Preparation of manganese indium sulfide urchins in aqueous solution-immiscible organic solvent

Manganese indium sulfide (MnIn2S4) urchins were successfully synthesized via a simple mixed-solvent thermal route in “aqueous solution–water-immiscible organic solvent” system. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence. Experiments showed that the amount of sulfur source and the solvent were the vital factors in the formation of MnIn2S4 and the volume ratio of organic solvent to distilled water was crucial for the morphology of the product. The possible formation process and growth mechanism for the urchin-like architecture were proposed based on the experiments.