Advances in Synthesis and Application of mesocrystals Semiconductor
SUN Jianwu1, GE meiying2, YIN Guilin1,2, ZHANG Fang2, HE Dannong1,2
1 School of materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 2 National Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology, Shanghai 200241
Abstract: As is known to all, conventional semiconductor nanomaterials are mostly polycrystals or single crystals. While, mesocrystals belong to a kind of superstructures self-assembled from primary nanoparticles in a crystalline order, showing identical atomic structures and scattering patterns to single crystals. The grain boundaries of primary nanoparticles retained in mesocrystal as well as its intense anisotropism, resulting in distinct structures and properties different from those of ordinary polycrystals and single crystals. For instance, primary nanoparticles in mesocrystal connect with each other in a certain way, therefore, compared with disordered polycrystals, mesocrystal exhibits much higher crystallinity even close to single crystal, which effectively reduces recombination probability of carriers in the material. The grain boundary between the primary nanoparticles is not completely disappeared, and the retained grain boundaries bring high porosity and specific surface which provides more active sites. The primary nanoparticles are arranged in order during oriented attachment, and high energy facets are exposed, leading to the great enhancement in activity. metal oxide semiconductors possess widespread application in photocatalysis, electrochemistry and gas sensor. Reactions in different applications all take place on the material surfaces like gas-liquid, gas-gas, gas-solid, where large specific surface area and high surface activity are required. mesocrystals with nanoparticles as basic building blocks are expected to obtain superior properties to conventional mateirals, therefore preparation of mesocrystalline metal oxide semiconductors has become the research focus. Based on nano self-assembly process driven by physical or chemical forces,researchers have successfully regulated the nucleation and growth of nanomaterials, and synthesized semiconductor mesocrystals like TiO2, ZnO, CuO and SnO2 by improving traditional preparation technology, including hydrothermal, solvothermal, ion-thermal methods. Besides, specific surface area, porosity and surface activity of the mesocrystals could be tailored by means of optimizing preparation technology. Further analysis of structure-property relationship is of great significance for popularizing the application of mesocrystalline materials. However, the study of mesocrystals is still in its infancy. The synthesis of mesocrystals with diverse components, morphologies and structures, and basic research on crystallization theory along with application development need to be further explored. This paper reviews the research progress of mesocrystalline semiconductors, mainly including preparation methods,and the characteristics of materials obtained by various methods are analyzed. And the current applications in the field of photocatalytic, electrochemical and gas sensing properties are presented. Besides, some existing issues about the preparations,properties and applications of mesocrystals are pointed out, and the outlook of further development is also given.
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