Synthesis of size-tunable zinc blende ZnS nanocrystals

Quasi-polyhedral ZnS nanocrystals with monodisperse tunable sizes of 40, 52, 62, 73, 82, 94, 103, and 110 nm have been synthesized in aqueous solution by regulating the amounts of thioacetamide, zinc acetate, and acetic acid added. The mixture was heated to 120°C in an oven for 10–20 min to produce the nanocrystals. Structural characterization reveals the formation of cubic zinc blende ZnS with some polycrystallinity, which possibly influences their optical properties, that is, the measured band gaps do not give a continuous narrowing trend with increasing particle size. However, when particle sizes are expressed in terms of volumes, the absorption band positions show steady red shifts with increasing crystal dimensions and very small wavelength changes for nanocrystals beyond 90 nm. Thus, these ZnS nanocrystals still possess some size-dependent optical properties despite their polycrystalline nature.     

Effect of Ultrasonic‐assisted Preparation Methods on Structure,Morphology and Optical Properties of Nanosized Cupric Oxide

Cupric oxide is a p‐type semiconductor with a narrow band‐gap which is suitable for catalysis, electrochemical cells, field emission devices and gas sensor applications. Despite considerable efforts devoted to the preparation of the nanosized CuO, there is a lack of information about ultrasonic‐assisted (US) preparation methods. Nanosized cupric oxide was successfully prepared through different ultrasonic‐assisted (US) preparation methods. Furthermore, the influence of preparation method on the structure, morphology and optical properties of nanosized CuO has been reported. XRD patterns were identical to the single‐phase pure CuO with a monoclinic structure. The enhancement of the crystallinity and crystallite size was observed for the sample prepared through the US thermal decomposition. The absorption band of CuO nanocrystals prepared through the US liquid hydrolysis shows a clear red shift of about 40 nm compared to those obtained with other preparation methods. Our results indicated that almost spherical CuO nanoparticles with an average size of 65 nm were prepared during the US thermal decomposition, while CuO rod‐like nanostructures with an average diameter of about 16 nm were obtained via the US liquid hydrolysis method. The band gap values of nanosized CuO samples were larger than the reported value for the bulk CuO. Synthesized CuO samples by US methods with adjustable and controllable properties make the applicability of cupric oxide even more versatile.     

Structural and optical characterization of Ag-doped TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by a sol–gel method

Undoped and silver-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles (Ti_1?x Ag _x O₂, where x?=?0.00?C0.10) were synthesized by a sol?Cgel method. The synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), particle size analyzer (PSA), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and UV?CVisible spectrophotometer. XRD pattern confirmed the tetragonal structure of synthesized samples. Average crystallite size of synthesized nanoparticles was determined from X-ray line broadening using the Debye?CScherrer formula. The crystallite size was varied from 8 to 33?nm as the calcination temperature was increased from 300 to 800?°C. The incorporation of 3 to 5% Ag⁺ in place of Ti⁴⁺ provoked a decrease in the size of nanocrystals as compared to undoped TiO₂. The SEM micrographs revealed the agglomerated spherical-like morphology of particles. SEM, PSA, and XRD measurements show that the particles size of the powder is in nanoscale. Optical absorption measurements indicated a red shift in the absorption band edge upon silver doping. Direct allowed band gap of undoped and Ag-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles measured by UV?CVis spectrometer were 3.00 and 2.80?eV, respectively, at 500?°C.     

Alloyed (ZnSe)(x)(CuInSe2)(1-x) and CuInSe(x)S(2-x) nanocrystals with a monophase zinc blende structure over the entire composition range

Metastable zinc blende CuInSe(2) nanocrystals were synthesized by a hot-injection approach. It was found that the lattice mismatches between zinc blende CuInSe(2) and ZnSe as well as CuInSe(2) and CuInS(2) are only 2.0% and 4.6%, respectively. Thus, alloyed (ZnSe)(x)(CuInSe(2))(1-x) and CuInSe(x)S(2-x) nanocrystals with a zinc blende structure have been successfully synthesized over the entire composition range, and the band gaps of alloys can be tuned in the range from 2.82 to 0.96 eV and 1.43 to 0.98 eV, respectively. These alloyed (ZnSe)(x)(CuInSe(2))(1-x) and CuInSe(x)S(2-x) nanocrystals with a broad tunable band gap have a high potential for photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications.     

Structures and optical properties of Zn1?x Ni x O nanoparticles by coprecipitation method

Nanocrystals of undoped and nickel-doped zinc oxide (Zn_1?x Ni _x O, where x?=?0.00?C0.05) were synthesized by the coprecipitation method. Crystalline size, morphology, and optical absorption of prepared samples were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and UV?Cvisible spectrometer. XRD and SEM studies revealed that Ni-doped ZnO crystallized in hexagonal wurtzite structure. Doping of ZnO with Ni²⁺ was intended to enhance the surface defects of ZnO. The incorporation of Ni²⁺ in place of Zn²⁺ provoked an increase in the size of nanocrystals as compared to undoped ZnO. Crystalline size of nanocrystals varied from 10 to 40?nm as the calcination temperature increased. Enhancement in the optical absorption of Ni-doped ZnO indicated that it can be used as an efficient photocatalyst under visible light irradiation. Optical absorption measurements indicated a red shift in the absorption band edge upon Ni doping. The band gap value of prepared undoped and Ni-doped ZnO nanoparticles decreased as annealing temperature was increased up to 800?°C.     

Gd3Ga5O12∶Eu3+发光纳米晶的燃烧合成及性质

以尿素为燃烧剂,乙二醇为分散剂采用燃烧法制备了Gd3Ga5O12∶Eu3+纳米晶。利用X射线衍射、电镜和荧光光谱对前驱体和热处理后样品的结构、形貌和发光性能进行了表征。XRD结果表明:700℃热处理2 h即可获得立方结构Gd3Ga5O12∶Eu3+纳米晶。根据Scherrer公式估算经700℃和900℃热处理2 h获得的纳米晶的一次性粒径分别为28 nm和42 nm。发射光谱和激发光谱的结果表明:特征发射峰来自于5D0-7FJ跃迁,而来自于Eu3+的5D0→7F1的磁偶极跃迁发射最强;宽激发带主要来自于Eu-O电荷迁移带和Gd3Ga5O12基质吸收。发射强度和激发强度随热处理温度的提高而增强。     

Structural and optical properties of novel CdSe nanoparticles produced via a facile synthetic route: Studies on the effects of cadmium sources

We report on the successful synthesis of CdSe nanoparticles (NPs) via a facile aqueous approach. Investigation on the effects of various cadmium sources in the precursor solution on the CdSe NPs is discussed. The structural and morphological properties characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) displayed good features of the as-prepared CdSe NPs. The XRD pattern displayed a pure zinc blende crystal structure for all samples, with the most crystalline sample observed for CdSe NPs prepared using anhydrous cadmium chloride. The estimated crystallite sizes were below 6 nm for all the CdSe NPs samples. Mixed shapes of spherical and nanorods of varying sizes were observed from the SEM images for the as-prepared NPs prepared using different cadmium sources. The optical studies conducted by photo-spectroscopy pointed out the CdSe NPs prepared using anhydrous cadmium chloride gave the best optical properties. The emission wavelengths were in the range 565 to 574 nm while the optical band gaps were in the range 2.94 to 3.23 eV for all the as-prepared CdSe NPs samples. All the samples, however, displayed quantum confinement effects giving room for further fabrication and engineering to suit specific applications in the biological field. The obtained results demonstrated that aqueous phase synthetic route employed in this study could be successfully adopted for production of high-quality CdSe NPs because of its facile and inexpensive nature.     

Influence of crystal size on the electron–phonon coupling in ZnO nanocrystals investigated by Raman spectroscopy

We have synthesized ZnO nanocrystals of different sizes (25–41 nm) using the sol–gel method and characterized them using different techniques such as: transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Raman spectra of different sizes of ZnO nanocrystals were recorded at two excitation wavelengths, 514 and 647 nm, in the spectral range 300–1200 cm⁻¹. The vibrational modes were assigned on the basis of group theory analysis. The influence of mean crystallite size on the strength of the electron–phonon coupling is experimentally estimated by the variation of relative intensities of second order Raman band and the first order Raman band for ZnO nanocrystals of different sizes. We found that the intensity ratio of the 2E₂ and 1E₂ Raman bands decreases almost linearly for both excitation wavelengths with decreasing crystallite size, which reveals that the Fröhlich interaction plays a dominant role in the electron–phonon coupling of the ZnO nanocrystals.     

Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles on a clay mineral surface in dimethyl sulfoxide medium

Nanocrystalline ZnO particles have been prepared with different methods using zinc cyclohexanebutyrate as precursor in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) medium via alkaline hydrolysis. A series of preparations were carried out in the presence of layered silicates (kaolinite and montmorillonite). It was revealed by different measurement techniques that the presence of the clay minerals has a stabilization influence on the size of the ZnO nanocrystals. UV-vis absorption spectra show a blue shift when the nanoparticles are prepared in the presence of the clay minerals. The average particle diameters calculated from the Brus equation ranged from 2.6 to 13.0 nm. The UV-vis spectra of the synthesized nanoparticles did not show any red shift after 2-3 days, demonstrating that stable ZnO nanocrystals are present in the dispersions. The presence of the ZnO nanoparticles was also proven by fluorescence measurements. A number of the nanoparticles are incorporated into the interlamellar space of the clays, and an intercalated structure is formed as proven by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The size of the nanoparticles in the interlamellar space is in the range of 1-2 nm according to the XRD patterns. Transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy investigations were applied to determine directly the particle size and the size distribution of the nanoparticles.     

Structural and optical characterization of Zn doped TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticles prepared by sol–gel method

Undoped and zinc-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles (Ti_1−xZn_xO₂ where x = 0.00–0.10) were synthesized by a sol–gel method. The synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and UV–VIS spectrometer. XRD pattern confirmed the tetragonal structure of synthesized samples. Average grain size was determined from X-ray line broadening using the Debye–Scherrer relation. The crystallite size was varied from 10 to 40 nm as the calcination temperature was increased from 350 to 800 °C. The incorporation of 3–5 mol% Zn²⁺ in place of the Ti⁴⁺ provoked a slight decrease in the size of nanocrystals as compared to undoped TiO₂. The SEM and TEM micrographs revealed the agglomerated spherical-like morphology with a diameter of about 10–30 nm and length of several nanometers, which is in agreement with XRD results. Optical absorption measurements indicated a blue shift in the absorption band edge upon 3–5 mol% zinc doping. Direct allowed band gap of undoped and Zn-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles measured by UV–VIS spectrometer were 2.95 and 3.00 eV at 550 °C, respectively.     

Nanocrystallization of oligosilanes by a reprecipitation method: easy fabrication of H-aggregates of linear-chain oligosilane molecules

Nanocrystals of several oligosilanes have been fabricated easily by using a reprecipitation method. The nanocrystals reveal an intense absorption band at the UVB region (280 to 320 nm) and a fluorescence band with large Stokes shift. These photophysical properties show that the nanocrystals exhibit an excitonic interaction of the H-aggregate type.     

Porphyrins with exocyclic rings. 14. Synthesis of tetraacenaphthoporphyrins, a new family of highly conjugated porphyrins with record-breaking long-wavelength electronic absorptions

The Soret band for porphyrins is usually observed in the near-ultraviolet at approximately 400 nm, and few examples of "nonexpanded" porphyrins with this major absorption band at values above 500 nm have previously been reported in the literature. Ring fusion with aromatic ring systems such as naphthalene, anthracene, or phenanthrene generally only produces minor bathochromic shifts to this diagnostic absorption band. In this paper, the synthesis of a series of tetraacenaphthoporphyrins and their metal chelates is reported. The compact nature of the acenaphthylene ring system allows the introduction of meso substituents using the Lindsey methodology. meso-Tetraphenylporphyrin 10a shows the presence of a Soret band at 556 nm, while p-methoxy and p-nitro substituents in 10f and 10g, respectively, further shift this band to 560 and 570 nm. Addition of TFA produces the corresponding dications with slightly higher wavelength Soret bands at 565, 573, and 588 nm. These values compare to 525 nm for the dication of tetraacenaphthylene 8, which lacks the meso-aryl substituents, indicating that steric crowding and its resulting distortion of the macrocyclic conformation is responsible for a significant albeit minor portion of these shifts. The nickel(II), copper(II), and zinc chelates of 10a produce Soret bands at 528, 545, and 558 nm, respectively, demonstrating that the trend for increasing red shifts in metalloporphyrins across the periodic table is retained for this series. The lead(II) chelate 19d gave an additional "hyper" shift that brought the Soret band to 604 nm. A similar red shift could be achieved by introducing four phenylethynyl substituents at the meso positions, and this highly conjugated porphyrin (20) also showed a Soret band at 604 nm, while the corresponding dication afforded this absorption band at 629 nm. The essentially additive "hyper" shift due to lead chelation brought the Soret band for the related lead(II) complex 22d to 642 nm. These effects are by far the largest ever observed for true porphyrins and demonstrate that the Soret band can be fined tuned to virtually any part of the visible spectrum.     

The effect of cationic disorder on the optical and electrochemical behavior of nanocrystalline ZnO preparedfrom peroxide precursors

The relation between particle size and the optical and electrochemical behavior of nanocrystalline ZnO was studied on materials prepared by the thermal decomposition of zinc peroxide. The formation of zinc oxide starts at 180°C and yields particles of characteristic size bigger than 10 nm. Smaller particles (r∼2–5 nm) may be prepared at reduced pressure and at a temperature of 150°C. The particle radius of synthesized nanocrystals increases proportionally to synthesis temperature. Regardless of actual particle size, synthesized ZnO samples show cationic disorder, with Zn distributed between 2b and 2a sites. The fraction of “octahedrally” coordinated Zn in 2a position decreases with increasing synthesis temperature. Zn disorder causes a narrowing of band gap, which results in the “red shift” of the absorption edge in the UV–Vis spectra of prepared samples with respect to bulk ZnO. The effect of the disorder on the band gap width is partially compensated by quantum size effects when the characteristic particle size drops below 5 nm. A decrease in particle size results in an asymmetric shift of valence and conduction band edges, which can be assigned to uneven effective masses of electrons and holes in nanocrystalline ZnO. Prepared nanocrystalline samples were (photo)electrochemically active; their activity, however, decreases with particle size.

Aged titania nanoparticles: the simultaneous control of local and long-range properties

TiO(2) nanoparticles are obtained by combining a sol-gel preparative route with hydrothermal aging steps, performed in mild conditions, of varying time lengths. Both aged and un-aged samples are thermally treated at 300 and 600 degrees C, for the same length of time. The crystal structures, the phase composition, and crystallite sizes are analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction. Raman spectra of anatase nanocrystals with average sizes of 7-10 nm are reported and the correlation between the Raman band shape of the main feature at 144 cm(-1) and the crystallite size is discussed. Nitrogen physisorption by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method is adopted to evaluate the particles surface area and mesopore size and size distribution. The role played by the hydrothermal step in affecting the physicochemical properties of the powders is discussed also with respect to the H(2)O/TiO(2) interactions as apparent from Raman spectroscopy investigations of the O-H stretching range (3000-3800 cm(-1)).     

Effect of current density on morphological,structural and optical properties of porous silicon

The morphology of porous silicon (PS) layers produced by electrochemical etching of n-type (100) silicon (Si) at different low current densities was studied using SEM, image J analysis and WSxM software. From FTIR spectroscopy analysis, the Si dangling bonds of the as-prepared PS layer have large amount of Hydrogen to form weak Si–H bonds. From Raman analysis, a full width half maximum (FWHM) of the Raman peak was gradually increased with increased current density, shifted towards lower energies due to reduce of crystallite size, the crystallite size in the PS varied from 63 nm to 20 nm depending on the current density. The optical response of the PS layer has been performed by the absorbance and Photoluminescence was studied experimentally in the visible range. The optical absorption and photo luminescence in PS is due to excitonic recombination between the defect states as well as on the surface of nanocrystals, and this was attributed to the presence of silicon hydride species which are confirmed by FTIR spectra. The red shift was observed in absorbance and Photoluminescence due to decrease in the size of Si crystallites and growth of Si=O bonds. The contact angle varied from 76° to 120.1°. From the wettability studies, the surface nature of the PS was converted from hydrophilic to hydrophobic when the current density increased.     

Preparation and optical properties of blue-emitting colloidal CdS nanocrystallines by the solvothermal process using poly (ethylene oxide) as the stabilizer

Blue-emitting colloidal CdS nanocrystals have been synthesized through the solvothermal reaction of cadmium acetate and thiourea in N,N-dimethylformamide using poly(ethylene oxide; PEO) as the stabilizing polymer. The as-prepared CdS colloids were stable at ambient conditions for several weeks. The PEO-stabilized CdS colloids showed a narrow fluorescence band with the maximum at about 420 nm and thus emitting blue fluorescence under the ultraviolet (UV) lamp. A common red shift of fluorescence band is not detected for the prepared CdS colloids in the study, indicating that PEO-stabilized CdS NCs possess few crystalline defects on their surface. In addition, transmission electron microscope micrographs reveal that the sizes of CdS NCs are between 4.4 to 5.4 nm with small standard deviations from 0.5 to 0.7 nm. The particle growth kinetics was studied by monitoring UV-visible absorption onsets versus the reaction time and was found to nearly follow the Lifshitz–Slyozov–Wagner theory for the Ostwald ripening mechanism.     

Preparation,characterization and enhanced photocatalytic activity of Ni<Superscript>2+</Superscript> doped titania under solar light

Anatase TiO₂ was prepared by sol-gel method through the hydrolysis of TiCl₄. Ni²⁺ was doped into the TiO₂ matrix in the concentration range of 0.02 to 0.1 at.% and characterized by various analytical techniques. Powder X-ray diffraction revealed only anatase phase for all the samples, while diffuse reflectance spectral studies indicated a red shift in the band gap absorption to the visible region. The photocatalytic activities of these photocatalysts were probed for the degradation of methyl orange under natural solar light. The photocatalyst with optimum doping of 0.08 at.% Ni²⁺, showed enhanced activity, which is attributed to: (i) effective separation of charge carriers and (ii) large red shift in the band gap to visible region. The influence of crystallite size and dopant concentration on the charge carrier trapping — recombination dynamics is investigated.     

Charge overlap interaction in quantum dot films: time dependence and suppression by cyanide adsorption

Chemical bath deposited films of CdSe nanocrystals (<4 nm) are shown to exhibit time-dependent spectral red shifts, caused by increasing overlap of the electron wave functions in adjacent nanocrystals. Treatment of these "aggregated" films with aqueous KCN solution results in repulsion of the wave functions due to the strongly adsorbed negatively charged cyanide and thus electronic decoupling of the physically connected nanocrystals. The previously reported band gap increase due to cyanide adsorption on nominally uncoupled nanocrystals is also described here in more detail.     

High quality CdSeS nanocrystals synthesized by facile single injection process and their electroluminescence

Highly luminescent CdSeS nanocrystals (quantum efficiency up to 85%), showing tunable luminescence properties from red to blue region with narrow band edge (FWHM = 34 nm), were synthesized by one-step addition of Se and S source mixture into the Cd precursor solution at elevated temperature, and the resulting nanocrystals were successfully embedded in a traditional OLED structure to give spectrally clean and narrow electroluminescence emission at identical positions of the photoluminescence spectrum.     

ESR and photoluminescence properties of Cu doped ZnS nanoparticles

Nanoparticles of Zn1-xCuxS with Cu concentrations of x=0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 were prepared by a co-precipitation reaction method from homogeneous solutions of zinc and copper salts. Both the ZnS and ZnS:Cu nanoparticles excited at about 370 nm exhibits a broad green emission band peaking around 491 nm, which confirms the characteristic feature of Zn2+ as well as Cu2+ ions as luminescent centers in the lattice. The TEM micrographs showed spherical morphology for ZnS nanocrystals and the average size of the particles was estimated to be around 8.5 nm. At liquid nitrogen temperature, ESR signal characteristic of Cu2+ ions was observed in samples of all concentrations. ESR spectra analysis also indicated that Cu2+ ions enter the host lattice by replacing Zn2+ ions with distorted tetrahedral site symmetry.