Morphologies and optical properties of poly(2,5-diethoxyphenylene) nanofibril arrays

An anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane can be used as a template for the synthesis of nanostructures. In this paper, we have fabricated poly(2,5-diethoxyphenylene) (EtO-PPP) nanofibril arrays by oxidative coupling polymerization of 1,4-diethoxybenzene (DEB) within the pores of an AAO template. The detailed molecular structure of the polymer nanofibrils was characterized by using the infrared spectrum and the ¹H-NMR spectrum. We have used transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy to confirm the morphologies and images of the template and the fabricated nanometer scale of poly(2,5-diethoxyphenylene)nanofibril arrays. The experimental results demonstrate that the pores of the AAO membrane are regular and uniform, and parallel to each other. Furthermore, the EtO-PPP chains in the narrowest template-synthesized fibrils were oriented parallel to the pore axes of the AAO membrane, and perpendicular to the surface of the aluminum substrate. The polymer chain orientation is partially responsible for the enhanced conductivity. The ultraviolet absorption maximum shows that the polymer contains a better extended π-conjugation system along the poly(p-phenylene) backbone, which results in a longer-wavelength shift of the absorption band. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of nanofibril arrays exhibits a 5-nm blue shift of the emission in comparison with the unordered molecules. Received: 3 January 2002 / Accepted: 7 January 2002 / Published online: 17 December 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +86-931/891-1100, E-mail: lihl@lzu.edu.cn     

Large-scale synthesis of GaN nanorods and their photoluminescence

Large quantities of gallium nitride (GaN) nanorods have been synthesized via direct reaction of metallic gallium vapor with flowing ammonia at 970 °C in a quartz tube. The nanorods have been confirmed as crystalline wurzite GaN by powder X-ray diffraction, selected-area electron diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy reveal that the nanorods are straight and uniform, with diameters ranging from 40 nm to 150 nm and lengths up to hundreds of micrometers. The growth mechanism is discussed briefly. Photoluminescence measurements on bulk GaN nanorods at room temperature show two strong peaks at 377 nm (3.28 eV) and 360 nm (3.44 eV) attributed to the zero-phonon donor-acceptor pair transition and the donor-bound exciton, respectively. Received: 19 April 2001 / Accepted: 10 May 2001 / Published online: 20 June 2001     

Optical properties of nanocrystalline-coated Y2O3:Er, Yb obtained by mechano-chemical and combustion synthesis

Y₂O₃:Er³⁺, Yb³⁺ nanocrystals have been obtained by ball milling and using a combustion synthesis procedure. In both cases the nanocrystals have been successfully coated with SiO₂ following the Stöber method. The average size of the as-synthesized nanoparticles has been estimated from X-ray diffraction patterns and transmission electron microscopy images. The dependence of the optical properties of these samples on synthesis procedure or dopant concentration has been investigated. Emission, excitation and lifetime measurements have been carried out. Upconversion luminescence has been detected in all samples and an enhancement of the red to green emission ratio has been observed in all samples after infrared compared to visible excitation. The mechanisms responsible for the upconversion phenomena have been discussed.     

Effects of organic modifiers on the size-controlled synthesis of hydroxyapatite nanorods

Size-controlled synthesis of hydroxyapatite nanorods were carried out by chemical precipitation method using polyethylene glycol (MW 600), Tween 20, trisodium citrate, and d-sorbitol as organic modifiers and starting from calcium nitrate, phosphoric acid, and ammonia solution. The influence of the organic modifiers on the sizes of the resultant HAP nanorods was investigated under different synthesis temperatures. It was found that polyethylene glycol was beneficial to the formation of HAP nanorods with a larger aspect ratio (average length/average diameter) at high synthesis temperature, Tween 20 and trisodium citrate favored the formation of small-sized HAP nanorods, and d-sorbitol helped the formation of HAP nanorods with long length at low synthesis temperatures.     

Effects of organic acids on the size-controlled synthesis of rutile TiO2 nanorods

Size-controlled synthesis of pure rutile-phase TiO₂ nanorods was carried out by a hydrothermal method using different organic acids as modifiers, and metatitanic acid and concentrated sulfuric acid as raw materials. The synthesized rutile TiO₂ nanorods were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effects of organic acid modifiers on the sizes of rutile TiO₂ nanorods were investigated. It was found that the steric effect occurred by the organic modifiers and non-polarity of organic acids were beneficial to the formation of small-sized rutile TiO₂ nanorods. The strongly coordinative interaction between the carboxyl (or hydroxyl) group of the modifier and the surface of TiO₂ nanoparticles effectively inhibited the crystal growth.     

A prototype of a rationally designed chemically powered Brownian motor

The design and development of a molecular system functioning as a prototype of a Brownian motor is presented. The road towards the molecular motor is illustrated with previous attempts preparing other mechanical devices, such as a molecular brake and a molecular ratchet. Thermal and chemical energy are used to achieve unidirectional rotation in the Brownian motor. The similarities of synthetic molecular devices with biological – microscopic – and mechanical – macroscopic – systems and the perils of extrapolating macroscopic principles to the molecular level are also discussed. Received: 15 November 2001 / Accepted: 14 January 2002 / Published online: 22 April 2002     

Catalytic growth and characterization of Ga<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> nanowires

β-Ga₂O₃ nanowires have been synthesized using Ga metal and H₂O vapor at 800 °C in the presence of Ni catalyst on the substrate. Remarkable reduction of the diameter and increase of the length of the Ga₂O₃ nanowires are achieved by separation of Ga metal and H₂O vapor before they reach the substrate. Transmission electron microscopy analyses indicate that the β-Ga₂O₃ nanowires possess a single-crystalline structure. Photoluminescence measurements show two broad emission bands centered at 290 nm and 390 nm at room temperature. Received: 27 June 2002 / Accepted: 7 October 2002 / Published online: 17 December 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +886-6/234-4496, E-mail: wujj@mail.ncku.edu.tw     

Influence of S incorporation on the luminescence property of ZnO nanowires by electrochemical deposition

Sulfur-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires have been successfully synthesized by an electric field-assisted electrochemical deposition in porous anodized aluminum oxide template at room temperature. X-ray diffraction and the selected area electron diffraction results show that the as-synthesized nanowires are single crystalline and have a highly preferential orientation. Transmission electron microscopy observations indicate that the nanowires are uniform with an average diameter of 120 nm and length up to several tens of micrometers. Room-temperature photoluminescence is observed in the doped ZnO nanowires, which exhibits a violet emission and blue emissions besides the typical photoluminescence spectrum of a single crystal ZnO.     

Formation of CdS nanoparticles using starch as capping agent

CdS nanoparticles have been synthesized using starch as capping agent in aqueous solution. The morphology and crystalline structure of such samples were measured by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. The average grain size of the nanoparticles determined by these techniques was of the order of 5 nm. Photoluminescence of CdS nanoparticles shows a strong emission peak below to the band gap bulk semiconductor attributed to center trap states, also the broadening peak was interpreted in terms of electron-phonon interaction.     

Preparation of ferromagnetic γ - Fe2O3 nanocrystallites by oxidative co-decomposition of PEG 6000 and ferrocene

Highly crystalline and ferromagnetic γ-Fe₂O₃ nanocrystallites were prepared by controlled oxidative co-decomposition of PEG 6000 and ferrocene at a temperature of 450 ^°C under air atmosphere. The morphology, crystalline structure and preliminary magnetic properties of the as-synthesized nanocrystallites have been characterized by using transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The highly crystalline γ-Fe₂O₃ nanocrystallites are in quasi-cubic shape with an average size of 30 nm and exhibit room-temperature ferromagnetism. The capping effect of PEG 6000 has also been investigated by thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) regarding controlling the size of the nanocrystallites and preventing the volatilization of ferrocene and thus raising the yield of the products. This simple method has a high yield of over 80% as well as low cost.     

Effect of Aspect Ratio Distribution on Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Extinction Spectrum of Gold Nanorods

Gold nanorods with different aspect ratios are prepared in micells using a seeded growth method. Their extinction spectra are observed with an UV-visible spectrophotometer and analysed theoretically. It is known that there are two plasmon resonance peaks for gold nanorod corresponding to transverse and longitudinal plasmon resonance respectively. Moreover, the longitudinal plasmon resonance peak shifts to long wavelength when we increase the aspect ratio determined from TEM. Especially, we model the extinction spectrum using Gans' theory and compare it with our experimental result. Considering the aspect radios distribution of gold nanorods, it is found that longitudinal plasmon resonance peak will be wider than the nanorods with single aspect ratio, which is consistent with our experimental result. In addition, the effect of dielectric constant of surrounding medium is considered.     

Photoluminescence Property of Co3O4 Nanowires

Co3O4 nanowire arrays are fabricated by electrodeposition with following heat-treatment in atmosphere ambient. Photoluminescence is investigated at 295K. In the experiment, when increasing the excitation light wavelength from 260 nm to 360 nm, two kinds of emissions corresponding to the increasing excitation light wavelength are observed. One of them alters the excited emission position, another keeps its emission position. The distinct behaviour of excited emissions related to the increasing excitation wavelength indicates that the mechanism of them must be different. According to the experimental comparison and first-principle calculation, the two kinds of emissions are discussed.     

Fabrication, morphology and structural characterization of ordered single-crystal Ag nanowires

Highly aligned Ag nanowires have been synthesized by dc electrodeposition within a hexagonal close-packed nanochannel anodic aluminum oxide template. The pore diameter varies from 20 nm to 50 nm depending on the anodization voltage and temperature for the two types of aqueous solutions, sulphuric and oxalic acids, respectively. The size and morphology of the Ag nanowire arrays were measured by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The images indicate that the highly aligned Ag nanowires grow in the uniform nanochannels of the anodic alumina template and that the size of the nanowires depends on the size of the nanochannels. X-ray diffraction, selected area electron diffraction pattern and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images show that the Ag nanowires are single-crystal. The temperature coefficient of resistivity (temperature range from 4.2 K to 300 K) of the Ag nanowire arrays decreases with decreasing diameter of the nanowires. Received: 5 November 2001 / Revised version: 12 March 2002 / Published online: 6 June 2002     

Catalysed growth of novel aluminium oxide nanorods

Micron-scale coral-like aluminium oxide structures have been generated by heating a mixture of AlB₂ and Co powders in a quartz boat at ca. 1050 °C under N₂. Upon sonication in acetone, the structures break down into elongated single-crystal aluminium oxide nanorods ranging from 20 to 200 nm in diameter and up to 5 μm in length. Single Co particles are often found attached to nanorod tips. A vapour–liquid–solid (V–L–S) mechanism appears to be responsible for the aluminium oxide nanorod growth. Received: 21 January 2003 / Accepted: 22 January 2003 / Published online: 28 March 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. E-mail: d.walton@sussex.ac.uk     

Geometrical dependence of optical negative index meta-materials at 1.55 μm

We have studied the geometry dependency of fishnet-like negative refractive index meta-materials (NIMs), and developed a process to fabricate such NIMs using nanoimprint lithography (NIL) in a controlled way for it to achieve negative refractive index in the desired frequency range. As an example, we fabricated a fishnet structure with a minimum negative refractive index of −1.7 at 1560 nm, which was only 10 nm off the targeted wavelength of 1550 nm.     

Fabrication of MgO nanobelts using a halide source and their structural characterization

MgO nanobelts have been fabricated by chemical vapor deposition using MgCl₃ as starting material. The products consist of a large quantity of belt-like nanostructures with typical lengths in the range of several tens to several hundreds of micrometers; some of them even have lengths on the order of a millimeter. The typical thickness and width-to-thickness ratio of the MgO nanobelts are in the range of 20 to 100 nm and about 5 to 10, respectively. The size and morphology of the MgO nanobelts were measured by transmission electron microscopy. Investigations of X-ray diffraction patterns and using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy indicate that the nanobelts have a cubic structure and are single-crystalline. Received: 23 August 2001 / Accepted: 27 August 2001 / Published online: 2 October 2001     

Synthesis and characterization of ZnO-Ag core-shell nanocomposites with uniform thin silver layers

This paper presents an investigation on the synthesis and characterization of ZnO-Ag core-shell nanocomposites. ZnO nanorods were employed as core material for Ag seeds, and subsequent nucleation and growth of reduced Ag by formaldehyde formed the ZnO-Ag core-shell nanocomposites. The ZnO-Ag nanocomposites were annealed at different temperature to improve the crystallinity and binding strength of Ag nanoparticles. The morphology, microstructure and optical properties of the ZnO-Ag core-shell nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption and photoluminescence measurement. It was demonstrated that very small face-center-cubic Ag nanoparticles were coated on the surface of ZnO nanorods. The ultraviolet absorption and surface plasmon absorption band of ZnO-Ag core-shell nanocomposites exhibited some redshifts relative to pure ZnO nanorods and monometallic Ag nanoparticles. The coating of Ag nanocrystals onto the ZnO nanorods completely quenched the photoluminescence. These observations reflected the strong interfacial interaction between ZnO nanorods and Ag nanoparticles. The effect of Ag coating thickness on the morphology and optical properties of ZnO-Ag core-shell nanocomposites was also investigated. Moreover, the growth mechanism of ZnO-Ag core-shell nanocomposites was also proposed and discussed in detail.     

Spatial characterization of the laser-induced plasma plumes generated by IR CO2 pulsed laser on carbon targets

We have used ferrocene and paraffin wax as novel precursor and solvent for the growth of iron oxide nanoparticles. The proposed method of growth has several advantages over existing methods of growth using iron pentacarbonyl a precursor. Highly crystalline and monodispersed particles are obtained which assemble in two- and three-dimensional hexagonal closed packed superlattices. Growth kinetics has been studied by varying concentration of the precursor and time of growth. A phenomenological model has been proposed to explain the growth kinetics.     

Anomalous ferromagnetic behavior of CuO nanorods synthesized via hydrothermal method

Copper monoxide (CuO) nanorods of 30-40 nm in diameter and 100-200 nm in length were successfully synthesized using a hydrothermal reaction method in the presence of sodium citrate. On the basis of the morphology observation and X-ray diffraction patterns of the samples, a possible growth mechanism of the CuO nanorods was proposed. The magnetic properties of CuO nanorods were studied using a SQUID magnetometer and a vibrating sample magnetometer. It was interesting to note that the as-synthesized CuO nanorods showed an anomalous ferromagnetic behavior. The coercive force (H_c) for the CuO nanorods at and were estimated to be 331.39 and 175.88 Oe, respectively. The anomalous ferromagnetic behavior of the as-synthesized CuO nanorods was discussed in terms of the effect of the peculiar morphology.     

Near-Field Characterization of Optical Micro/Nanofibres

Near-field scanning optical microscopy is used to investigate the waveguiding properties of optical micro/nanofibres （MNFs） by means of detecting optical power carried by evanescent waves. Taper drawn silica and tellurite MNFs, supported on low-index substrates, are used to guide a 532-nm-wavelength light beam for the test. Modification of the single-mode condition of the MNF in the presence of a substrate is observed. Spatial modulation of the longitudinal field intensity （with a 195-nm period） near the output end of a 760-nm-diameter silica MNF is well resolved. Energy exchange through evanescent coupling between two parallel MNFs is also investigated.