Owing to far-ranging industrial applications and theoretical researches, tailored synthesis of well-defined nanocrystals has attracted substantial research interest. Herein, β-AgI nanoplates have been synthesized through a facile polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-assisted-aqueous-solution (PAAS) method under mild conditions. The parametric studies on the effect of ratio of reactants, solvents and surf...

Mirrors and optical cavities can modify and enhance matter-radiation interactions. Here we report that chemically synthesized Au nanoplates can serve as micrometer-size mirrors that enhance electrodynamic interactions. Because of their plasmonic properties, the Au nanoplates enhance the brightness of scattered light from Ag nanoparticles near the nanoplate surface in dark-field microscopy. More...

Semiconducting bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3) nanoplates with unique highly oriented {001} surfaces were prepared on a large scale using a novel organic precursor Bi(DTCA)3 (DTCA = carbazole-9-carbodithioic acid). The as-prepared Bi2S3 nanoplates were dispersed in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and spin-coated onto an indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate. With a simple ITO/Bi2S3/Al stacked structu...

Ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors are important tools in the fields of optical imaging, environmental monitoring, and air and water sterilization, as well as flame sensing and early rocket plume detection. Herein, hexagonal-like Nb₂O₅ nanoplates are synthesized using a facile solvothermal method. UV photodetectors based on single Nb₂O₅ nanoplates are constructed and the optoelectronic properties ...

A topological insulator is a new phase of quantum matter with a bulk band gap and spin-polarized surface states, which might find use in applications ranging from electronics to energy conversion. Despite much exciting progress in the field, high-yield solution synthesis has not been widely used for the study of topological insulator behavior. Here, we demonstrate that solvothermally synthesize...

We report here the preparation of Fe, Co, and FeCo nanoplates and nanoparticles by ball milling in the presence of surfactants in organic solvents. By controlling the milling and centrifugation conditions, the Fe, Co, and FeCo nanoplates and nanoparticles with different sizes were successfully obtained, from the slurries and from the top part of the solutions, respectively. The thickness of the...

Surface enhancement Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful technique for detecting low-concentration analytes (chemicals and biochemicals). Herein, a high-performance SERS biosensing system has been created by using highly stable Ag@oxides nanoplates as enhancers. The Ag nanoplates were stabilized by coating a uniform ultrathin layer of oxides (SiO2 or TiO2) on the Ag surface through a simple so...

Polymers are widely used in the chemical synthesis of colloidal nanocrystals, and their roles are generally documented as steric stabilizers or capping agents. In particular, poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) has received special attention because of its high chemical stability, nontoxicity, and excellent solubility in many polar solvents. Although the repeating unit of PVP has been extensively inv...

SnTe is a topological crystalline insulator that possesses spin-polarized, Dirac-dispersive surface states protected by crystal symmetry. Multiple surface states exist on the {100}, {110}, and {111} surfaces of SnTe, with the band structure of surface states depending on the mirror symmetry of a particular surface. Thus, to access surface states selectively, it is critical to control the morpho...

The sensitivity of a metal oxide gas sensor is strongly dependent on the nature of the crystal surface exposed to the gas species. In this study, two types of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures: nanoplates and nanorods with exposed (0001) and (10̄10) crystal surfaces, respectively, were synthesized through facile solvothermal methods. The gas-sensing results show that sensitivity of the ZnO nanopla...