(340b) Engineering of Charge Transfer Complex Nanocrystals By Electrocrystallization

Crystal structure and morphology of nanoparticles determine their interfacial atomic arrangements and thus control their properties. To date, controlling the morphology of the nanoparticles is still a major barrier that greatly limits their applications. This work discusses the experimental and theoretical methods to study and control the morphology of the nanocrystals. Guided by the thermodynamics and kinetic transition theory, we used electrocrystallization to make K(def)TCP nanocrystals and tuned the electrochemical parameters to alter the nanocrystal morphologies. Our results suggest that the electrochemical parameters influence the K(def)TCP nanocrystal morphology. We obtained nanoparticle shapes ranging from nanorods to rhombohedral shape depending on the solution concentration, the applied potential and the current. We modeled the observed crystal growth behavior with a Monte-Carlo based computer simulation. The simulation results qualitatively match the experimental findings. This work contributes to the understanding of the crystal growth behavior and the thermodynamic/kinetic morphology transition in electrocrystallization. We will show the application of the engineered K(def)TCP nanocrystals in gas sensing.