Solvothermal synthesis, growth mechanism, and photoluminescence property of sub-micrometer PbS anisotropic structures

The sub-micrometer PbS with anisotropic microstructures including fishbone-like dendrites, multipods, cubes, corallines, and hopper cubes were successfully prepared by the solvothermal process. Different morphologies can be obtained by adjusting the reaction temperatures or using the nontoxic controlled reagents which can tune the relative growth rate in the < 100 > direction and the < 111 > direction of PbS nuclei. Based on the viewpoint of crystallography about face-centered cubic crystal structure, the possible formation mechanism for sub-micrometer anisotropic structures has been discussed. The difference between the enhanced growth rates on the {100} and {111} planes induced the change of ratio between the growth rates in the < 100 > and < 111 > directions, which resulted in the formation of the different PbS anisotropic microstructures. The PbS anisotropic structures exhibited the different visible emission with a peak in the red regions mainly attributed to the variation of shape, size, and the trap state of as-obtained PbS.