Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2010, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (09): 2557-2562.doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB20100834

• PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Biomolecule-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis and Optical Properties of Cu7S4 Nanotubes

GUO Pei-Zhi, HAN Guang-Ting, WANG Bao-Yan, ZHAO Xiu-Song   

  1. 1. Laboratory of New Fiber Materials and Modern Textile, the Growing Base for State Key Laboratory, School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, Shandong Province, P. R. China;
    2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, ingapore 117576
  • Received:2010-02-03 Revised:2010-04-17 Published:2010-09-02
  • Contact: GUO Pei-Zhi E-mail:pzguo@qdu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:

    The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (20803037), Doctoral Foundation of Shandong Province (2007BS04022), Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2009BM013), and“Taishan Scholar”Programof Shandong Province, China.

Abstract:

Cu7S4 nanotubes were synthesized using a biomolecule DL-methionine-assisted hydrothermal method. The morphology and phase of the products can be controlled by adjusting the reaction parameters such as synthesis temperature, reaction time and the molar ratio of the reagents. We found that uniform polycrystal Cu7S4 nanotubes with diameters of 100-600 nm and lengths of 40-100 μm can be controllably synthesized at 200oC when the molar ratio of Cu(NO3)2 to DL-methionine in the synthesis system is 1:2. Similar Cu7S4 nanotubes can be obtained from D-or L- methionine systems. The bandgap energy of the Cu7S4 nanotubes was measured to be about 2.88 eV, a remarkable blue shift in comparison with that of bulk Cu7S4 (2.0 eV). We discussed the relationship between the products and the functional groups in the amphiphilic biomolecules. On the basis of our experimental data, we proposed that the Cu7S4 nanotubes were formed versus a self-sacrificing template mechanism.

Key words: Hydrothermal synthesis, Cu7S4 nanotube, Methionine, Biomolecule