Fabrication of mesoporous ZnO nanosheets from precursor templates grown in aqueous solutions

Mesoporous ZnO nanosheets were successfully prepared by pyrolytic transformation of zinc carbonate hydroxide hydrate, Zn₄CO₃(OH)₆·H₂O. The nanosheets were initially formed as assemblies on glass substrates during chemical bath deposition (CBD) in aqueous solutions of urea and zinc acetate dihydrate, zinc chloride, zinc nitrate hexahydrate, or zinc sulfate heptahydrate at 80°C. It was key to induce heterogeneous nucleation of Zn₄CO₃(OH)₆·H₂O by promoting a gradual hydrolysis reaction of urea and controlling the degree of supersaturation of zinc hydroxide species. Morphology of Zn₄CO₃(OH)₆·H₂O was largely influenced by the anions present in the CBD solutions. The Zn₄CO₃(OH)₆·H₂O nanosheets were transformed into wurtzite ZnO by heating at 300°C in air without losing the microstructural feature.     

CdS nanocrystallites sensitized ZnO nanorods with plasmon enhanced photoelectrochemical performance

A sandwiched structure of CdS/Ag/ZnO nanorod photoanode exhibits greatly enhanced photoelectrochemical activity for solar hydrogen generation, due to synergistic effect of CdS nanocrystallites and plasmonic Ag nanoparticles for the enhanced optical absorption and the promoted charge carrier separation.     

新型双功能磁性纳米催化剂的制备与表征

传统酸性催化反应以稀硫酸为酸催化剂,虽然稀硫酸的催化活性很高,但由于稀硫酸极易腐蚀设备、不易与反应体系分离、易造成环境污染等缺点,如何用固体超强酸取代稀硫酸作为酸催化剂成为了研究的重点.对目前有关磁性固体超强酸的研究主要有SO42-/ZrO2/MFe2O4(M=Fe,Co,N i)[1~3]和     

ZnO荧光粉中的紫外发射和绿色发射之间的关系

通过在低氧分压和真空中热处理ZnO粉末, 获得了ZnO荧光粉. ZnO荧光粉有两个发射谱带, 分别位于380 nm(紫外)和510 nm(绿色). 紫外谱带对应于ZnO中的激子发射, 是一个单中心发光过程；绿色谱带是一个复合发光过程, 与ZnO中的本征缺陷相关, 如氧空位、锌空位等. 实验表明, 高密度的激发条件有利于紫外发射, 而低氧分压下的热处理有利于提高绿色发射谱带的强度. 研究结果还表明, 与紫外发射相联系的激子可向与本征缺陷相联系的绿色发光中心传递能量, 这种传递可能是通过激子扩散实现的.     

Strong Structural and Electronic Binding of Bovine Serum Albumin to ZnO via Specific Amino Acid Residues and Zinc Atoms

ZnO biointerfaces with serum albumin have attracted noticeable attention due to the increasing interest in developing ZnO-based materials for biomedical applications. ZnO surface morphology and chemistry are expected to play a critical role on the structural, optical, and electronic properties of albumin-ZnO complexes. Yet there are still large gaps in the understanding of these biological interfaces. Herein we comprehensively elucidate the interactions at such interfaces by using atomic force microscopy and nanoshaving experiments to determine roughness, thickness, and adhesion properties of BSA layers adsorbed on the most typical polar and non-polar ZnO single-crystal facets. These experiments are corroborated by force field (FF) and density-functional tight-binding (DFTB) calculations on ZnO-BSA interfaces. We show that BSA adsorbs on all the studied ZnO surfaces while interactions of BSA with ZnO are found to be considerably affected by the atomic surface structure of ZnO. BSA layers on the surface have the highest roughness and thickness, hinting at a specific upright BSA arrangement. BSA layers on surface have the strongest binding, which is well correlated with DFTB simulations showing atomic rearrangement and bonding between specific amino acids (AAs) and ZnO. Besides the structural properties, the ZnO interaction with these AAs also controls the charge transfer and HOMO-LUMO energy positions in the BSA-ZnO complexes. This ZnO facet-specific protein binding and related structural and electronic effects can be useful for improving the design and functionality of ZnO-based materials and devices.     

甲醇水蒸气重整制氢Cu/ZnO/Al2O3催化剂的研究

燃料电池作为一种无污染、高效率的能源引起世界各大汽车公司的广泛关注[1,2]。用于燃料电池的燃料目前研究较多的是氢气,用氢气作燃料存在储存、安全、运输等问题,寻求合适贮氢方法或替代燃料,实现车载制氢是解决问题的办法。甲醇作为液体燃料,因具有高能量密度,低碳含量,以及运输和贮存等优势成为车载制氢的理想燃料,甲醇水蒸气重整制氢反应也成为研究的热点[3～10]。车载制氢对甲醇水蒸气重整制氢反应体系中的产氢速率,氢气和CO的含量都有一定的要求。尤其对CO含量要求更为苛刻,因CO易引起燃料电池阳极催化剂中毒[11,12]。因此,开…     

Chemical Solution Deposition of ZnO Thin Films by an Aqueous Solution Gel Precursor Route

An aqueous chemical solution deposition method was used to prepare thin films of ZnO on SiO₂/Si (1 1 1) substrates. Starting from an aqueous solution of Zn acetate, citric acid and ammonia, very thin films could be deposited by spin coating. Heating parameters, necessary for thin film annealing, were determined using FTIR experiments on dried gel precursors, heated up to different temperatures. The morphology and the thickness of the films were investigated by SEM. It is found that homogeneous thin films with grain sizes of about 20 nm are formed. XRD experiments show that there is an indication that the films, crystallized at 500°C, exhibit preferential grain growth along the c-axis.     

常温直接沉淀法制备ZnO纳米棒

在常温下, 以PEG-400(聚乙二醇400)为表面活性剂, 采用直接沉淀法合成了ZnO纳米棒. 产物用XRD, TEM, SAED和 HRTEM等进行了表征. 结果表明, 所得ZnO为一维的纳米棒, 属于六方纤维矿的单晶结构. ZnO纳米棒的直径在20~40 nm之间, 长度在300~800 nm范围. (0001)面为ZnO纳米棒的生长方向. 讨论了ZnO相的生成和ZnO纳米棒的形成机理以及PEG-400在其形成过程中的作用.     

Multiple Regulation Effects of Ammonium Acetate on ZnO Growth Process in Chemical Bath Deposition

Chemical bath deposition method has been used to synthesize a variety of ZnO morphology structures. However, the specificity and interaction of acetate and ammonium ions with ZnO crystal during the growth process remain elusive. This study contributes to understand the roles of ammonium acetate on the growth mechanism of ZnO in Zn(NO₃)₂-HMTA system. The growth process indicates that the nucleation experienced Zn²⁺-layered basic zinc salts (LBZs)-ZnO process, while the self-assembled unit changed from urchin-shaped, rod-shaped to a fully coupled twin-shaped structure with increasing ammonium acetate concentration. Ammonium acetate dominates the growth process by combing the ligand-ligand interaction of acetate ions binding to the same Zn-rich (0001) polar surface and ammonium ions regulating hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) hydrolysis. Relatively regular hexagonal wurtzite structure and a dissolve-renucleation-regrowth process which retains the twin-shaped template and renucleates at the same position are observed at ∼10 mM ammonium acetate. Photoelectrochemistry (PEC) measurements show that the uniform hexagonal ZnO rods (Y-10, the sample named as Y-x (x represents x mM ammonium acetate, herein, x is 10 mM)) have a maximum photocurrent density of 1.54 mA cm⁻² at 1.23 V (vs. RHE), much higher than that of the dumbbell-shaped ZnO rods (Y-50, 0.20 mA cm⁻²) at the same voltage. These results provide a further explanation of morphology regulation mechanisms on ZnO synthesis processes and pave the road for more practical applications.     

Indications of bulk property changes from surface ion implantation

In the majority of cases, the effects of ion implantation are confined close to the implant zone but, potentially, the resultant distortions and chemical modifications could catalyse relaxations extending into the bulk substrate. Such possibilities are rarely considered but the present data suggest that high dose ion implantation of ZnO has induced bulk changes. Surface implants with Cu and Tb strongly modified the low temperature bulk thermoluminescence properties generated by X-ray irradiation. Suggestions are proposed for the possible mechanisms for bulk relaxations and structural characteristics, which may indicate where such instability may occur in other lattice structures.