Effect of the precursors and solvents on the size, shape and crystal structure of manganese sulfide crystals in solvothermal synthesis

A solvothermal route has been utilized for the growth of MnS micro and nanocrystals with different morphologies such as pyramid, octahedron, sheet, sphere, hexagonal ring, etc. It was observed that the experimental parameters such as the variation in the precursor salt, molar ratio of the anionic and cationic precursors as well as the solvent play critical role in determining the morphology and crystal structure of the products. X-ray diffraction study reveals the formation of stable and metastable phases of MnS under different experimental conditions. It was observed that irrespective of the nature of the solvent, the presence of sulfur source in higher molar concentration always favored the formation of stable MnS phase. Interpenetrating crystal growth and clustering formation were also observed under certain circumstances. A detailed growth mechanism for the various micro and nanostructures is proposed.