Alternative motif toward high-quality wurtzite MnSe nanorods via subtle sulfur element doping

The manipulated synthesis of high-quality semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) is of high significance with respect to the exploration of their properties and their corresponding applications. Nevertheless, the preparation of metastable-phase NCs still remains a great challenge due to their high kinetic barriers and harsh synthetic conditions. Herein, we demonstrated the fabrication of high-quality MnSe nanorods with a metastable wurtzite structure via a subtle sulfur-doping strategy. Based on the UV-vis absorption spectra, manganese polysulfide clusters were formed by mixing oleylamine-sulfur and oleylamine-manganese solutions at room temperature. The existence of manganese polysulfide clusters with polymeric sulfur structures makes the system more reactive, inducing fast wurtzite-phase nucleation. This can overcome the natural kinetic barrier of wurtzite MnSe and lead to subsequent growth of targeted NCs. On the other hand, no sulfur doping would produce MnSe NCs in a thermodynamically favorable rock-salt phase. As expected, different doping contents and sulfur sources also resulted in the formation of high-quality wurtzite MnSe nanorods. This success establishes that a facile strategy can be anticipated to synthesize high-quality metal chalcogenide NCs with a metastable phase, especially wurtzite nanorods, for potential applications from spintronics to solar cells.