March Crystal Clear: Crystal Snowflakes

This month’s Crystal Clear shows crystals which look remarkably like snowflakes!

FESEM image of dendritic PbTe nano-crystals

In fact this is an image of three-dimensional PbTe dendrites, taken using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The paper, published in Issue 6 of CrystEngComm, details the fabrication of these crystals in the presence of β-cyclodextrin.

Gang Chen et al. of the Harbin Institute of Technology have developed a facile synthesis to control the morphology of the nano-crystals. Lead telluride is a typical IV–VI semiconductor and controlling the size and shape of the material has initiated substantial interest. Nano-cubes, nano-octahedrons, nano-wires, nano-rods and hopper crystals have been synthesised as well as flower-like and dendritic structures.

These dendritic crystals have been successfully synthesized via a facile, rapid solvothermal process in the presence of β-cyclodextrin. The authors have characterised the products and propose a mechanism of formation for the crystals and the influencing parameters.

To read more about their developments you can download the article now, which is free to access for 4 weeks.

ll

Facile solvothermal synthesis and growth mechanism of flower-like PbTe dendrites assisted by cyclodextrin
Rencheng Jin, Gang Chen, Jian Pei, Chunshuang Yan, Xian Zou, Mingda Deng and Shuai Sun
CrystEngComm, 2012, 14, 2327-2332
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE06417K

You can also keep up to date with the latest news in crystal engineering by following us on twitter or liking us on facebook

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)