One-Pot Hydrothermal Synthesis of ZnSe Hollow Nanospheres from an Ionic Liquid Precursor

Abstract

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been gradually used to synthesize nanomaterials; however, it is rare that “tailoring” task-specific ILs to guide the synthesis pathway toward desirable nanostructures and morphologies. In this paper, a Se-containing ionic liquid 1-<i>n</i>-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methylselenite ([BMIm][SeO₂(OCH₃)]) was used as a new Se precursor to purposely prepare ZnSe hollow nanospheres with bubble templating through a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. The as-prepared ZnSe hollow nanospheres with good dispersity are relatively uniform with an average diameter of about 100 nm and a wall thickness range of 10−20 nm. More importantly, it was found that [BMIm][SeO₂(OCH₃)] not only serves as Se source but also acts as stabilizer for the ZnSe hollow nanospheres. In addition, the UV−vis spectrum of the products displayed adsorption maxima at 278 and 426 nm; therefore, the obtained ZnSe hollow nanospheres might have promising applications in blue emitters, catalysts, and gas sensors. It would be expected that [BMIm][SeO₂(OCH₃)] could be used to prepare other nanoscale metal selenides with special morphologies and improved properties on a large scale.