Synthesis and characterization of porous ZnO nanoparticles by hydrothermal treatment of as pure aqueous precursor

Journal Article · Fri Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Materials Research Bulletin

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MATERRESBULL.2011.01.002· OSTI ID:22210034

Sahoo, Trilochan; Kim, Myoung ^[1]; Baek, Jong Hyeob; Jeon, Seong-Ran ^[2]; Kim, Jin Soo; Yu, Yeon-Tae; Lee, Cheul-Ro ^[1]; Lee, In-Hwan ^[1]

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1. School of Advanced Materials Engineering and Research Center of Industrial Technology, Chonbuk National University, Chonju 561-756 (Korea, Republic of)
2. LED Device Team, Korea Photonics Technology Institute, Gwangju 500-460 (Korea, Republic of)

Graphical abstract: ZnO nanocrystals are predominately prepared by soft chemical methods such as sol-gel and hydrothermal. Although hydrothermal approach is very simple, complexing agents or mineralizers such as alkali metal hydroxide are generally used. There is always a high probability that these cations will be incorporated within the nanocrystals. Such unintentional doping is detrimental to the intrinsic property of the material and will impede its effective application. Here we report a very simple and effective hydrothermal approach to synthesize ZnO nanocrystal without employing any mineralizers. Research highlights: The manuscript reports synthesis of ZnO nanoparticle by simple thermal treatment of aqueous precursor without using any assisting mineralizing agent. The highlights of the findings are as follows: {yields} Aqueous synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles is demonstrated without using any mineralizer. {yields} The method minimizes the risk of unintentional doping due to mineralizers. {yields} The synthesized ZnO nanoparticles had a non-uniform mesoporous structure. {yields} The porous ZnO nanoparticls exhibited size dependent optical absorption. -- Abstract: The presence of the complexing agents in the growth solution poses risk of the unintentional doping in the synthesized product and hence is likely to adversely affect the intrinsic properties. Herein we report the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles with porous microstructure using pure aqueous precursor. Crystalline ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by thermal treatment of aqueous solution of zinc acetate in an open bath. The size of the nanocrystals was controlled by changing the initial precursor concentration. The structural and optical properties of the synthesized nanocrystals were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, UV-vis absorption and room temperature photoluminescence measurement techniques. The TEM and UV-vis spectral signature analyses confirmed the formation of dispersed single crystalline ZnO nanoparticles. The nanopowders were found to have disordered mesoporous structure. The synthesized nanocrystals exhibited characteristic band edge emission as well as to surface defect related deep level visible luminescence.

• OSTI ID: 22210034
• Journal Information: Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 46, Issue 4; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2011 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0025-5408
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
ABSORPTION
ALKALI METALS
AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
HEAT TREATMENTS
MICROSTRUCTURE
MONOCRYSTALS
NANOSTRUCTURES
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
POROUS MATERIALS
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SURFACES
SYNTHESIS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
ZINC OXIDES