Aerosol Phase Generation of Indium–Selenide Nanoparticles

Abstract

Results on the generation and heat treatment of In–Se nanoparticles, made by heterogeneous condensation of selenium on indium nanoparticles synthesised via the evaporation/condensation route are reported. In-situ aerosol measurements are complemented with ex-situ analysis, to provide structural, morphological, and compositional information on the In–Se nanoparticles. Our results indicate that prior to heat treatment In–Se nanoparticles have a shape in the aerosol phase, similar to an asymmetric dumbbell. The bigger particle of the dumbbell structure is made up of amorphous Se, while the overall composition of the polycrystalline smaller particle is around InSe. The smaller particle has an intrinsic structure, and consists of different InSe-compounds, with a decreasing In content towards the shell. The shape of the In–Se nanoparticles is different in the aerosol phase and on the surface of the samples. The observed variety of particle sizes and shapes on the sample surface is shown to be partly due to the agglomeration of the aerosol phase binaries (i.e., dumbbells) via coalescence on the surface of the sample and wetting of the sample surface by the Se nanoparticles. These processes make the bigger particle of the dumbbell structure appear almost perfectly hemispherical on the sample surfaces. During heat treatment at lower temperatures mainly the evaporative removal of the big Se particle of the dumbbell structure will take place. Annealing of the smaller particles starts to dominate at temperatures above 240 °C and makes the composition of the small particles closer to that of the thermodynamically most favoured In2Se3.