Solution-phase synthesis and high photocatalytic activity of wurtzite ZnSe ultrathin nanobelts: a general route to 1D semiconductor nanostructured materials.

A general and facile synthetic route has been developed to prepare 1D semiconductor nanomaterials in a binary solution of distilled water and ethanol amine. The influence of the volume ratio of mixed solvents and reaction temperature on the yield and final morphology of products was investigated. Significantly, this is the first time that wurtzite ZnSe ultrathin nanobelts have been synthesized in solution. It has been confirmed that the photocatalytic activity of ZnSe nanobelts in the photodegradation of the fuchsine acid is higher than that of TiO(2) nanoparticles. The present work shows that the solvothermal route is facile, cheap, and versatile. Thus, it is very easy to realize scaled-up production, and brings new light on the synthesis and self-assembly of functional materials.