ABSTRACT
The structure of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) thin films (5-100 nm) deposited on single-crystal ZnO(1100) substrates by organic molecular beam deposition was determined from grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction reciprocal space maps. The crystal structure was identified as the metastable polymorph α-CuPc, but the molecular stacking was found to vary depending on the film thickness: for thin films, a herringbone arrangement was observed, whereas for films thicker than 10 nm, coexistence of both the herringbone and brickstone arrangements was found. We propose a modified structure for the herringbone phase with a larger monoclinic ß angle, which leads to intrastack Cu-Cu distances closer to those in the brickstone phase. This structural basis enables an understanding of the functional properties (e.g., light absorption and charge transport) of (opto)electronic devices fabricated from CuPc/ZnO hybrid systems.
ABSTRACT
This Communication describes the synthesis of highly monodispersed 12 nm nickel nanocubes. The cubic shape was achieved by using trioctylphosphine and hexadecylamine surfactants under a reducing hydrogen atmosphere to favor thermodynamic growth and the stabilization of {100} facets. Varying the metal precursor to trioctylphosphine ratio was found to alter the nanoparticle size and shape from 5 nm spherical nanoparticles to 12 nm nanocubes. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy showed that the nanocubes are protected from further oxidation by a 1 nm NiO shell. Synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction techniques showed the nickel nanocubes order into [100] aligned arrays. Magnetic studies showed the nickel nanocubes have over 4 times enhancement in magnetic saturation compared to spherical superparamagnetic nickel nanoparticles.
