Zinc Carboxylate-Assisted Synthesis of ⟨002⟩-Oriented Wurtzite ZnSe Colloidal Nanorods with Controlled Size and Tunable Optical Properties

The growth of colloidal ZnSe nanorods with controlled crystallographic orientation and size has attracted much attention for exploring their anisotropic properties and size-dependent properties. Herein, a solution-processed strategy was developed to synthesize ⟨002⟩-oriented wurtzite (w-)ZnSe nanorods by heating zinc carboxylate and selenium (Se) in 1-dodecanethiol and oleylamine. The higher molar ratio of zinc stearate (ZnSt2) to Se and the longer carbon chain length of zinc carboxylate both led to the growth of w-ZnSe nanorods with smaller diameter and length due to the steric hindrance effect. The ⟨002⟩-oriented w-ZnSe nanorods exhibited diameter-dependent excitonic energies and tunable photoluminescence (PL) emissions.