Photochemical Synthesis,Spectral-Optical and Electrophysical Properties of Composite Nanoparticles of ZnO/Ag

The photochemical synthesis of nanoparticles of ZnO/Ag in isopropanol solutions has been carried out. Their optical properties have been studied and the parameters of the plasma resonance of the nanoparticles of silver in the ZnO/Ag composites have been calculated. It has been established that the hypsochromic shift of the plasma band of silver observed on irradiation of the nanocomposite is a result of accumulation of excess electrons on the ZnO/Ag particles which leads to equalization of the potentials of the conductions zones of the semiconductor and the metallic components of the nanocomposite.     

Influence of ZnO Nanoparticles on the Behavior of the Short-Lived Products of the Pulse Photolysis of Fluorescein and Its Halogen Derivatives in Isopropanol

Rapid processes, which occur on photoexcitation of fluorescein and a series of its halogen derivatives in the presence of ZnO nanoparticles in isopropanol, have been studied by pulse photolysis. The short-lived intermediates have been identified and the kinetics of their destruction have been studied. It is shown that photoinduced transfer of an electron from the singlet and triplet excited molecules of the dyestuffs into the conduction zone of the semiconductor occurs in the presence of ZnO nanoparticles.     

Electrical,optical and photocatalytic properties of Ti-loaded ZnO/ZnO and Ti-loaded ZnO nanospheres

Ti-loaded ZnO and Ti-loaded ZnO/ZnO nanoparticles have been synthesized by sol–gel method and analyzed for photocatalyst application. The phase confirmation was analyzed by powder XRD and surface morphology with HR-SEM and EDAX spectrum. The particle size measured using HR-TEM and SAED pattern confirms the crystalline nature of Ti-loaded ZnO and Ti-loaded ZnO/ZnO nanoparticles. The optical properties were studied with UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectra. The DRS of Ti-loaded ZnO/ZnO nanoparticles are similar to those of pristine ZnO nanoparticles. The KM plots show both the synthesized Ti-loaded ZnO/ZnO and Ti-loaded ZnO exhibit in UV-A region. The electric properties are studied with impedance analyzer, and the results show the charge-transfer resistance of Ti-loaded ZnO/ZnO is larger than that of Ti-loaded ZnO nanoparticles. The photocatalytic activity was studied with methylene blue dye and phenol degradation by Ti-loaded ZnO/ZnO, Ti-loaded ZnO, TiO₂ and ZnO nanoparticles. The photocatalytic activity of Ti-loaded ZnO/ZnO nanospheres is slightly higher than that of other nanoparticles, which shows that they have excellent application as photocatalyst.     

Superior Photostability and Photocatalytic Activity of ZnO Nanoparticles Coated with Ultrathin TiO2 Layers through Atomic‐Layer Deposition

Atomic‐layer deposition (ALD) is a thin‐film growth technology that allows for conformal growth of thin films with atomic‐level control over their thickness. Although ALD is successful in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, its feasibility for nanoparticle coating has been less explored. Herein, the ALD coating of TiO₂ layers on ZnO nanoparticles by employing a specialized rotary reactor is demonstrated. The photocatalytic activity and photostability of ZnO nanoparticles coated with TiO₂ layers by ALD and chemical methods were examined by the photodegradation of Rhodamine B dye under UV irradiation. Even though the photocatalytic activity of the presynthesized ZnO nanoparticles is higher than that of commercial P25 TiO₂ nanoparticles, their activity tends to decline due to severe photocorrosion. The chemically synthesized TiO₂ coating layer on ZnO resulted in severely declined photoactivity despite the improved photostability. However, ultrathin and conformal ALD TiO₂ coatings (≈0.75–1.5 nm) on ZnO improved its photostability without degradation of photocatalytic activity. Surprisingly, the photostability is comparable to that of pure TiO₂, and the photocatalytic activity to that of pure ZnO.     

Transformation of Wurtzite ZnO to a New Triclinic Nanoporous ZnO Phase via Hydrothermal Treatment with Metformin for Designing Proton Conducting Material

Zinc oxide is one of the most widely studied semiconductor metal oxides, which predominantly crystallizes as hexagonal wurtzite and often cubic zinc-blende phases. Here we report the transformation of the highly stable wurtzite ZnO to a new triclinic phase NZO-2 by using metformin as a template during post-synthesis hydrothermal treatment. This crystalline phase of the material NZO-2 has been identified through the refinement of the powder XRD data. NZO-2 possesses porous rod like particle morphology consisting of the self-assembly of 3–7 nm size spherical nanoparticles and interparticle nanoscopic voids spaces. NZO-2 has been surface phosphorylated and the resulting material displayed good proton conductivity. Further, NZO-2 displayed ultra-low band gap of 1.74 eV, thereby responsible for red emission under high energy laser excitation and this may open new opportunities in optoelectronic application of ZnO.     

Synthesis of cobalt-doped ZnO/rGO nanoparticles with visible-light photocatalytic activity through a cobalt-induced electrochemical method

ZnO is a semiconductor photocatalyst widely applied in photodegradation of organic pollutants and in photoelectric conversion. ZnO exhibits low photocatalytic activity due to poor absorption in the visible region. In this work, a novel cobalt-induced electrochemical growth method was developed to synthesize cobalt-doped ZnO/rGO nanoparticles in an aqueous solution at room temperature. Cobalt-doped ZnO/rGO nanoparticles exhibited wider visible-light absorption band ranging from 400 nm to 700 nm due to cobalt doping. The surface structure of ZnO formed by the cobalt-induced electrochemical method without other ions is suitable for photocatalytic reactions. The cobalt-doped ZnO/rGO nanoparticles were found to exhibit in photodegradation and photo-electrochemical measurements and exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation.     

水热法合成CdS/ZnO核壳结构纳米微粒

以半胱氨酸镉配合物为前驱体,采用水热法合成CdS纳米微粒,并以ZnO对其进行表面修饰,形成具有核／壳结构的CdS／ZnO半导体纳米微粒,CdS纳米微粒表面经ZnO修饰后,其带边发射大大增强,透射电镜显示,110℃下反应4h所得的CdS／ZnO颗粒尺寸约为20nm,电子衍射表明其结构为六方相。     

ZnO纳米管的光学性质及其对甲基橙降解的光催化活性

以十二烷基硫酸钠为模板剂采用水热法合成了ZnO纳米管,以尿素和ZnSO4为原料制备了ZnO纳米颗粒,并应用透射电镜、x射线衍射、光致发射光谱、拉曼光谱、比表面积测定、傅里叶红外光谱和紫外-可见漫反射光谱等技术对样品进行了表征.结果表明,ZnO纳米管的比表面积较大,在λ≈650nm的可见光波段ZnO纳米管开始出现吸收峰,而ZnO纳米颗粒在可见光波段几乎没有吸收.ZnO纳米管和纳米颗粒在紫外光照射下均对甲基橙有降解作用,其中ZnO纳米管的光催化活性较高.随着催化剂用量的增加和光照时间的延长,甲基橙降解率逐渐提高;甲基橙浓度的增大使甲基橙降解率降低.     

Polymer crystalline structure and morphology changes in nylon‐6/ZnO nanocomposites

The influence of ZnO nanoparticles on the crystalline structures of nylon‐6 under different crystallization conditions (annealing at different temperatures from the amorphous solid, isothermal crystallization from the melt at different temperatures, and crystallization from the solution) has been examined with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared. ZnO nanoparticles can induce the γ‐crystalline form in nylon‐6 when it is cooled from the melted state and annealed from the amorphous solid. This effect of ZnO nanoparticles increases with decreasing particle size and changes under different crystallization conditions. The effects of ZnO nanoparticles on the crystallization kinetics of nylon‐6 have also been studied with DSC. The results show that ZnO nanoparticles have two competing effects on the crystallization of nylon‐6: inducing the nucleation but retarding the mobility of polymer chains. Finally, the melting behavior of the composites has been investigated with DSC, and the multiple melting peaks of composites containing ZnO nanoparticles and pure nylon‐6 are ascribed to the reorganization of imperfect crystals. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1033–1050, 2003     

纳米ZnO的制备及其光学性质的研究

采用均匀沉淀法，以尿素与硝酸锌反应制备纳米ZnO，通过TG-DTA、XRD、IR及TEM等手段对纳米粒子及中间体进行了表征，结果表明制得的纳米粒子粒度均匀，粒径分布窄。对纳米ZnO的发光特性研究表明，随焙烧温度升高，粒度的增大，可见绿色发射增强。同时对纳米ZnO与普通ZnO的发光性质进行了比较研究，指出纳米ZnO的绿色发光带有蓝移现象，这是由于纳米ZnO的量子尺寸效应引起的。BET测试表明，纳米ZnO的比表面为171．2m^2／g，有利于作催化剂。     

Band structure tuning of ZnO/CuO composites for enhanced photocatalytic activity

The toxic dye pigments, even in small quantities, can damage ecosystems. Removing organic, inorganic, and microbiological contaminants from wastewater via heterogeneous photocatalysis is a promising method. Herein, we report the band structure tuning of ZnO/CuO nanocomposites to enhance photocatalytic activity. The nanocomposites were synthesized by a chemical approach using step-wise implantation of p-type semiconductor CuO to n-type semiconductor ZnO. Various characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and UV spectroscopy were used to investigate the crystal structure, surface morphology, elemental composition and optical properties of the synthesized samples. As the CuO content increased from 10% to 50% in ZnO/CuO nanocomposites, the optical bandgap decreased from 3.36 to 2.14 eV. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated against the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible irradiation. Our study demonstrates a novel p–n junction oxide photocatalyst based on wt. 10% CuO/ZnO with superior photocatalytic activity. Effectively 66.6% increase in degradation rate was achieved for wt. 10% CuO/ZnO nanocomposite compared to pure ZnO nanoparticles.     

Tuning the morphology of ZnO nanoparticles by Zn-clusters and application on the photoreduction of Cr(VI)

The ZnO nanoparticles in a uniformed size have been applied as the photocatalysts over the reduction of Cr(VI). The morphologies of the ZnO nanoparticles are decided by the cluster type of mother sample Zn-MOFs, which are prepared with the same bi-ligands 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (H3BTC) and phenanthroline (phen) in the presence of Zn ions. The SEM, TEM, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and UV–vis study reveal the physical properties and structural information of ZnO nanoparticles. The reduction rate of Cr(VI) under the UV light irradiation indicates that the ZnO nanoparticles have higher activities with promoting reduction rate comparing with the related Zn-MOFs. The test of photocurrent approves the reduction ability of each sample.     

Microwave-assisted solution synthesis and photocatalytic activity of Ag nanoparticles supported on ZnO nanostructure flowers

Ag nanoparticles supported on the surface of three-dimensional (3D) flower-like ZnO nanostructure were synthesized by a microwave-assisted solution method. The obtained products were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectrophotometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The analytical results confirmed homogeneously distributed Ag nanoparticles supported on the surface of flower-like ZnO nanostructure. The photocatalytic effect of the heterostructure Ag/ZnO nanocomposites was investigated using photodegradation under ultraviolet (UV) light of methylene blue as model dye. The heterostructure Ag/ZnO nanocomposites exhibited much higher photocatalytic activity than pure ZnO flowers. The improved photocatalytic properties are attributed to formation of a Schottky barrier at the metal–semiconductor interface of the Ag/ZnO nanocomposites.     

Synthesis, characterization and study of photocatalytic activity of surface modified ZnO nanoparticles by PEG capping

Nanoparticles of bare and PEG (Polyethylene glycol) capped zinc oxide (ZnO) were synthesized by precipitation method. The photocatalytic activity of bare and modified ZnO nanoparticles was studied by monitoring the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). The results show that PEG capped ZnO nanoparticles has reduced photocatalytic activity than the bare ZnO nanoparticles. The reduction in the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) results also revealed the reduced photocatalytic activity of PEG capped ZnO. The UV-shielding property was evaluated by measuring the transmittance which shows that both bare and PEG capped ZnO nanoparticles possess good UV-shielding ability.     

Luminescent energy transfer between cadmium telluride nanoparticle and lanthanide(III) chelate in competitive bioaffinity assays of biotin and estradiol

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer has been studied between lanthanide(III) chelates as donors and protein-coupled CdTe semiconductor nanoparticles as acceptors. Wide excitation spectra and large Stokes shift of semiconductor nanoparticles and timeresolved fluorescence detection were shown to provide a combination for successful energy transfer assay. Different intrinsically fluorescent europium(III) and terbium(III) chelates coupled to single biotin molecules were studied for optimal energy transfer with streptavidin labeled semiconductor nanoparticles. No significant differences between the studied chelates were observed. The strength of the methodology was demonstrated in a clinically relevant competitive and separation-free immunoassay of estradiol, where subnanomolar limit of detection was achieved with the coefficient of variation 2-11%. The data suggested that relatively short distance was needed to obtain adequate energy transfer. Therefore, biomolecules were coupled onto the semiconductor nanoparticles without any spacers.     

Biosynthesis of ZnO nanoparticles through extract from Prosopis juliflora plant leaf: Antibacterial activities and a new approach by rust-induced photocatalysis

Rust-induced photocatalytic and antibacterial activities of ZnO nanoparticles derived from Prosopis juliflora leaf extracts by biosynthesis using the hydrothermal method at 170 °C are reported in this study. The characterization has been accomplished by various methods such as XRD, DRS, FT-IR, SEM, TEM, EDAX, and PL spectra. XRD exhibits that ZnO has a hexagonal wurtzite structure with a preferred orientation of 101 planes. The functional groups, which are present in the leaf extracts, are responsible for corresponding peaks in FT-IR spectra. The FESEM images of the synthesized nanoparticles show the morphology sphere like structure. ZnO particle size of 65 nm has been observed from HR-TEM analysis. The elemental composition has a good agreement with the biosynthesized ZnO nanoparticles. The antibacterial activities have been carried out in vitro assays against four different pathogens viz Escherichia coli (E. coli), Rhodococcus rhodochrous (R. rhodochrous), Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) and Vibrio cholera (V. Cholera) against a standard (streptomycin sulfate). Furthermore, the Photocatalytic ability of the titled nanoparticles has been experimented from the rust solution with methylene blue and degradation under UV radiation of 99%. The proposed mechanism is based on scavenger studies and it is investigated during the photo degradation of Methylene blue. The catalytic amount and recovery of photocatalyst have also been studied in detail.     

Controlled reduction of the deleterious effects of photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanoparticles by PVA capping

Nanoparticles of uncapped and PVA (poly vinyl alcohol) capped zinc oxide were synthesized by precipitation method. The synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis. The photocatalytic activity of bare and modified ZnO nanoparticles was studied by monitoring the degradation of Rhodamine B. The results show that PVA capped ZnO nanoparticles has reduced photocatalytic activity than the bare ZnO nanoparticles. The reduction in the chemical oxygen demand and total organic carbon results also revealed the reduced photocatalytic activity of PVA capped ZnO. The UV-shielding property was evaluated by measuring the transmittance which shows that both bare and PVA capped ZnO nanoparticles possess good UV-shielding ability.     

Photocatalytic degradation of anionic surfactant using zinc oxide nanoparticles

In this paper the photocatalytic degradation of anionic surfactant LABS was studied by a batch process using ZnO nanoparticles with diameter size of 20 nm catalyst on irradiation with UV light and their behavior comparatively examined with respect to ZnO commercial powder. The effect of parameters such as initial surfactant concentration, initial solution pH has been studied. Also degradation at LABS in the presence of an electron acceptor like potassium peroxydisulfate and effect of anion presence on surfactant degradation has been systematically investigated. The obtained result demonstrated a high photocatalytic activity of nanosize semiconducting particles.     

Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial investigation of mechanochemically processed silver doped ZnO nanoparticles

The application of nanomaterials has gained considerable momentum in various fields in recent years due to their high reactivity, excellent surface properties and quantum effects in the nanometer range. The properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) vary with its crystallite size or particle size and often nanocrystalline ZnO is seen to exhibit superior physical and chemical properties due to their higher surface area and modified electronic structure. ZnO nanoparticles are reported to exhibit strong bacterial inhibiting activity and silver (Ag) has been extensively used for its antimicrobial properties since ages. In this study, Ag doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by mechanochemical processing in a high energy ball mill and investigated for antimicrobial activity. The nanocrystalline nature of zinc oxide was established by X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. It is seen from the XRD data obtained from the samples, that crystallite size of the zinc oxide nanoparticles is seen to decrease with increasing Ag addition. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) data also supported the nanoparticle formation during the synthesis. The doped nanoparticles were subjected to antimicrobial investigation and found that both increase in Ag content and decrease in particle size contributed significantly towards antimicrobial efficiency. It was also observed that Ag doped ZnO nanoparticles possess enhanced antimicrobial potential than that of virgin ZnO against the studied microorganisms of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.     

From Multicomponent precursor to nanoparticle nanoribbons of ZnO

A simple mild solution method is developed to synthesize a novel nanoribbon multicomponent precursor. A new 1-D nanostructure, porous structured nanoribbons which are self-assembled by textured ZnO nanoparticles, was found upon removal of ligand molecules from the ribbonlike precursor. The structure combines 1-dimensional geometry with nanoparticle morphology and displays porous structure because there are gaps/pores between the particles. The orientation textured structure of the ZnO nanoparticles can be formed by controlling the annealing time. The ZnO nanoparticle nanoribbons exhibit a long geometrical shape, uniformity, a high aspect ratio, and different optical activities with different nanostuctures. These findings demonstrate a convenient, simple technique for production of the novel one-dimensional semiconductor nanostructure suitable for subsequent processing into nanostructures, materials, and devices.