Synthesis and self-assembly of Cu1.94S–ZnS heterostructured nanorods

Cu1.94S–ZnS heterostructured nanorods are prepared by injecting Zn(acac)2-dodecanethiol solution into hot reaction systems containing Cu1.94S nanocrystals which catalyze the pyrolysis of Zn(acac)2 and the following epitaxial growth of ZnS on Cu1.94S seeds. Crystallographic analysis suggests that the built-in p–n type heterostructures allow the dipole moment vectors of both the Cu1.94S “head” and ZnS “tail” to overlap, consequently giving rise to unexpected zipper-like self-assembled structures formed by the heterostructured Cu1.94S–ZnS nanorods.