title: One-pot synthesis of high-index faceted AgCl nanocrystals with trapezohedral, concave hexoctahedral structures and their photocatalytic activity.
abstract: AgCl semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) with trapezohedral (TPH) and concave hexoctahedral (HOH) structures have been successfully synthesized for the first time in high yield by a direct one-pot solvothermal method. The as-prepared TPH, concave HOH AgCl NCs with unconventional polyhedral shapes and smooth surfaces were enclosed by 24 high-index {311} facets and 48 high-index {15 5 2} facets, respectively. A specific ionic liquid poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride (PDDA) acted as both a Cl(-) ion precursor and a morphology-controlled stabilizer, which was indispensable for the formation of these high-index faceted AgCl polyhedra and the derived uniform octahedral AgCl in an appropriate concentration of hot AgNO3 and ethylene glycol (EG) solution. With high-index facets exposed, both TPH and concave HOH AgCl NCs exhibit much higher photocatalytic activity than octahedral AgCl NCs that have mainly {111} faces exposed, with lower surface areas and surface energies, for the degradation of organics under sunlight. It is expected that the use of polyhedral AgCl NCs with high-index facets is an effective approach for the design of alternative semiconductor photocatalysts with a high performance, which may find potential applications such as in photochromics and environmental management.
authors.affiliation: Lightweight Optics and Advanced Materials Center, Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610209, People's Republic of China. zhb@ioe.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Haibin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yonggang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jingzhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang