Growth and characterization of single-crystal ZnSe nanorods via surfactant soft-template method

Stoichiometric ZnSe nanorods have been successfully synthesized through a simple and convenient surfactant-assisted reaction. The microstructures and the chemical compositions of the as-synthesized nanorods have been investigated by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), the energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results reveal that the as-synthesized materials selecting sodium laurylsulfonate (SDS) as surfactant consist of ZnSe nanorods with diameters and lengths ranging in 16-20 nm and 120-270 nm, respectively. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern shows the single-crystal nature of as-synthesized ZnSe nanorods. The room temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurements show a very broad peak centered at 453 nm (2.74eV), which is attributed to the quantum size confinement effect of the nanorods.