In nanorods

Semiconducting nanorods and nanowires were synthesized by y-irradiation at room temperature and the atmospheric pressure. The experiment was carried out in ethylenediamine and pyridine as solvents. Ethylenediamine (en) and pyridine (py) molecules were coordinated with metal ions and had an effect on the shape like nanorods and nanowires (Jo et al. 2006). Semiconducting nanorod and pearl necklace-like nanowire of CdS and CdSe were successfully synthesized by irradiation with a dose of 90 kGy at room temperature and the atmospheric pressure. When nanorods and nanowires were prepared in en and py, the solvent molecules controlled their morphology. From XRD data, the synthesized CdS and CdSe could be observed on the information of crystallinity of them. In nanorod CdS and CdSe, the intensity of the (0 0 2) diffraction peak was extraordinarily strong. This result indicates that the CdS obtained in py have a preferential [0 0 1] orientation. TEM images displayed rod and pearl necklace like morphology with diameters of several nanometers and lengths of upto several microns. For the shape control, en and py were successfully used to replace the surfactant molecules on the surface of nanoparticles. 

P. K. Jain, S. Eustis and M. A. El-Sayed, Plasmon coupling in nanorod assemblies Optical absorption, discrete dipole approximation simulation, and exciton-coupling model. Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 110(37), 18243-18253 (2006). 

Li S, Chen P, Wang X, Zhang L, Liang H. Surface-induced morphologies of lamella-forming diblock copolymers eonfined in nanorod arrays. J Chem Phys 2009 130 014902. 

ZnO is obviously one of the best candidates among semiconductors for DSSC applications as it can be synthesized easily and inexpensively into different shapes and sizes using various methods, and is environment friendly and stable indefinitely. Photovoltage and photocurrent measurements using modulated illumination on dye-sensitized ZnO solar cells have shown tens to hundreds of times faster electron transport in nanorod array electrodes compared to nanocrystalline particulate electrodes assembled from colloidal nanoparticles, with the electron lifetimes being only slightly smaller [237]. 

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