Ternary hybrid nanostructures of Au–CdS–ZnO grown via a solution–liquid–solid route using Au–ZnO catalysts

Multi-component nanostructures of Au–CdS–ZnO with a novel morphology were synthesized by a non-conventional strategy where seeded growth is combined with solution–liquid–solid (SLS) growth. Each of these synthetic routes is used for growing a different domain of the final heterostructure, where ZnO rods are grown first on Au nanoparticles via heterogeneous nucleation while CdS is later grown between these two domains via SLS, using the Au tip of the preformed Au–ZnO as a catalyst. The in situ alloying of the Au tip with Cd enabled the metal tip to function as an SLS catalyst at a relatively mild reaction temperature which is lower than the melting point of pure Au.