Size- and shape-dependent growth of fluorescent ZnS nanorods and nanowires using Ag nanocrystals as seeds.

High-quality, monodisperse, and size-controlled Ag-ZnS nanorods or nanowires have been synthesized successfully using Ag nanocrystals as seeds. Such one-dimensional colloidal Ag-ZnS nanorods or nanowires having a purposefully controlled diameter in the range of 5-9 nm and a length of 18-600 nm were obtained by altering the reaction conditions, such as concentration, reaction time, reaction temperature, and diameter of Ag nanocrystals. The conjunction interface of Ag-ZnS nanorods or nanowires consists of the (200) plane of Ag nanocrystal and (101) plane of ZnS rod or wire, the <101> directions of ZnS nanorods grow preferentially. Based on the photoluminescence and lifetime of Ag-ZnS nanorods, it was found that Ag nanocrystals enhanced the radiative rate eventually, the fluorescence intensity of Ag-ZnS nanorods can be tuned by changing the size of the Ag seeds. The Ag-ZnS nanorods or nanowires showed greatly improved optical properties as compared to ZnS nanocrystals, the maximum emission was around 402 nm and the photoluminescence quantum yield was up to 30% when 5 nm Ag nanocrystals were used as seeds.