Facile controlled synthesis of micro/nanostructure MCrO4 (M = Ba, Pb) by using Gemini surfactant C12-PEG-C12 as a soft template

Gemini surfactants, double sodium α-sulfonic polyethylene glycol laurate (abbreviated C₁₂-PEG-C₁₂), were prepared and applied as soft templates in the controlled synthesis of BaCrO₄ and PbCrO₄ micro/nanocrystals. The template effects were investigated by adjusting the length of the spacer, using PEG400 and PEG4000, of the Gemini surfactant. The results indicated that the size and morphology of BaCrO₄ and PbCrO₄ micro/nanocrystals varied with the change in spacer length of C₁₂-PEG-C₁₂, suggesting that the different lengths of the polyethylene glycol group spacers in the Gemini surfactants played a key role in determining the size and shape of the MCrO₄ micro/nanoparticles. The dynamic process of the formation of the novel morphology BaCrO₄ crystals showed that the morphology grew from a round-bar polyhedron, to regular polyhedron, to approximate octahedron to a uniform pistachio nut shape. The growth mechanism of the BaCrO₄ micro/nanocrystals was explained that C₁₂-PEG-C₁₂ had a greater interfacial adsorption and would effectively control the shape evolution during the crystal growth, while PbCrO₄ could be explained that the Gemini surfactants can undergo liquid-crystalline phase transitions with long channels providing a soft template effect and derived the nanorods formation. Room temperature fluorescence spectra were studied and these showed that the pistachio-shaped BaCrO₄ microcrystals and PbCrO₄ nanorods possess photoactive luminescence properties with emission peaks at 470 and 549 nm, respectively.