Size and shape control of ZnO and CeO2 nanoparticles and synthesis of
Cu-ZnO hybrid nanopyramids
Kobi Flomin
Department of Chemistry and Ilse Katz Center for Nanoscience and
Nanotechnology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Zinc oxide (ZnO) and ceria (CeO2) are two metal oxides that have attracted scientific interest in recent years owing to their unique chemical and physical properties, environmentally benign compositions and relatively low costs that make them promising candidates in many technological applications such as catalysis, solar cells and fuel cells. Controlling the size and shape of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) is important because many of the chemical and physical properties of such materials are size and shape dependent.
Therefore in the first part of our research we focused on developing synthetic procedures that enable the shape and size control of ZnO and CeO2 NPs. A variety of well defined morphologies and sizes were achieved for the ZnO and CeO2 nanoparticles via the thermal decomposition of single source precursors in a hot organic solution in the presence of different surfactants. The surfactant ratio was found to have a major role in dictating the morphology of the ZnO NPs and the average size of the CeO2 NPs, while the coordination strength of the solvent was found to be the shape controlling factor in the ceria system.
The second part of our research was dedicated to the development of synthetic procedures for growing metal-metal oxide hybrid nanostructures. Hybrid nanostructures often possess multifunctionality based on the different materials being combined and in some cases they can even show novel chemical and physical properties. Thus, the ability to synthesize such multi-component materials is of great importance and can open new scientific and technological frontiers.
In our research we have developed a facile synthetic procedure for creating a Cu-ZnO hybrid nanostructure. This procedure is based on the one-pot thermal decomposition of Cu and Zn precursors in a hot solution. The combination of a UV-absorbing material such as ZnO and a metal with proven catalytic performance such as copper can give the combined nanostructure unique photocatalytic properties that motivate further research.
