D-Penicillamine-Assisted Self-Assembly of Hierarchical PbS Microstars with Octa-Symmetric-Dendritic Arms

Without any template or surfactant, a facile D-penicillamine assisted solvothermal method was developed for large-scale synthesis of hierarchical PbS microstars with octa-symmetric-dendritic arms along the (111) direction in the water/ethanolamine (EA) solution. In this process, D-penicillamine was used as both a sulfur source and a chelating agent. The parameters, including the molar ratio of the precursors, the volume ratio of the binary solvents, and the reaction temperature and time, have great effects on the morphology of the final products. Additionally, the possible growth mechanism was proposed to explain the formation of these architectures. This facile D-penicillamine-assisted technique provides a new way for shape-controlled synthesis of other superstructured materials.