title: Size-tunable, hexagonal plate-like Cu3P and Janus-like Cu-Cu3P nanocrystals.
abstract: We describe two synthesis approaches to colloidal Cu(3)P nanocrystals using trioctylphosphine (TOP) as phosphorus precursor. One approach is based on the homogeneous nucleation of small Cu(3)P nanocrystals with hexagonal plate-like morphology and with sizes that can be tuned from 5 to 50 nm depending on the reaction time. In the other approach, metallic Cu nanocrystals are nucleated first and then they are progressively phosphorized to Cu(3)P. In this case, intermediate Janus-like dimeric nanoparticles can be isolated, which are made of two domains of different materials, Cu and Cu(3)P, sharing a flat epitaxial interface. The Janus-like nanoparticles can be transformed back to single-crystalline copper particles if they are annealed at high temperature under high vacuum conditions, which makes them an interesting source of phosphorus. The features of the Cu-Cu(3)P Janus-like nanoparticles are compared with those of the striped microstructure discovered more than two decades ago in the rapidly quenched Cu-Cu(3)P eutectic of the Cu-P alloy, suggesting that other alloy/eutectic systems that display similar behavior might give origin to nanostructures with flat, epitaxial interface between domains of two diverse materials. Finally, the electrochemical properties of the copper phosphide plates are studied, and they are found to be capable of undergoing lithiation/delithiation through a displacement reaction, while the Janus-like Cu-Cu(3)P particles do not display an electrochemical behavior that would make them suitable for applications in batteries.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16130 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Trizio
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Figuerola
authors.forename: Liberato
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Manna
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Genovese
authors.forename: Chandramohan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: Rosaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brescia
authors.forename: Zineb
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Saghi
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Simonutti
authors.forename: Marijn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Van Huis
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Falqui
mesh_terms: D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010316:Particle Size; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D010758:Phosphorus; D003300:Copper