Fe-lactate mediated formation of ZnO sols and self-organized nanorod assemblies
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10971-014-3553-8 |
| Field | Inorganic chemistry |
| Keywords | Nanoparticles; Nanorods; ZnO; Fe-doped ZnO; Sol-gel coatings |
| Description | Hot ethanolic mixtures of hydrated Zn(II)- and Fe(II)-carboxylates (acetate and lactate) react to form yellow-orange colored Fe(III)(x)ZnyOzOHw heteroclusters showing pronounced electronic resonances in the optical UV absorption spectra. On the addition of LiOH to these polymolecular sols, stable nanoparticulate Fe(III)-ZnO colloids are formed. During colloidal growth, 2-4 nm sized weakly crystallized Wurtzite nanoparticles are exclusively formed even in the presence of high Fe content up to 20 at.%. The presence of Fe(III) in the ZnO condensation process retards the nanoparticle growth and blocks the thermal crystallization and size enhancement up to 250 A degrees C. The produced 0.5 M Fe(III)-ZnO sols are useful for film formation processes. From atomic force microscopy-AFM, scanning electron microscopy-SEM and X-ray diffraction-XRD studies, we note important differences in shape and morphology of the thermally annealed Fe(III)-ZnO layers depending on the iron carboxylate employed. Surprisingly, Fe(II)-lactate derived coatings are carrying vertically oriented cone-shaped aggregates composed of 60-120 nm long primary nanorods. Contrary, Fe(II)-acetate based synthesis gave sand-dune like film morphologies containing spherical 12 nm sized nanocrystallites. All film samples possess mesoporosity with pore size ranging between 5 and 20 nm. |
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