Diaryl diselenides are being used to access metastable phases of metal selenides in bottom-up nanocrystal syntheses, some of which are novel. The goal is to understand how and why these reagents give these phases, so that more novel materials may be targeted across the periodic table. Presented will be the phase controlled synthesis to berzelianite (Cu1.8Se) and metastable klockmannite (CuSe) using diphenyl and dibenzyl diselenide. Here, we strategically use 1H, 13C, and 77Se NMR, TGA and DSC in order to analyze the precursor decomposition both ex situ and in situ high temperature nanocrystal reactions. We have begun to develop the key steps in the decomposition mechanisms that give rise to the phase control. The proposed mechanisms can be applied to inform precursor choice to achieve targeted and reliable phase pure synthetic products.

Why some diselenides give metastable nanocrystalline products

ACS Fall 2021

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