Form Emerges from Formless Entities: Temperature‐Induced Self‐Assembly and Growth of ZnO Nanoparticles into Zeptoliter Bowls and Troughs

Abstract

Shaping up: Unusual bowl‐, trough‐, and ring‐shaped structures result from the temperature‐induced self‐assembly of nanoparticles (see picture for bowl). The obtained ZnO bowls and rings also serve as a template to make metal or metal oxide replicas. The tiny bowls are envisaged not only to hold fluids of ultralow volume, but also to grow nanoparticles, immobilize biomolecules, and screen sub‐micrometer‐sized particles.

Ag2Se complex nanostructures with photocatalytic activity and superhydrophobicity

“…900 nm in size. ZnO with a similar bowl-like nanostructure has been reported by Krishna and co-workers [3]. HRTEM images (Figs.…”

“…5(h)), for 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 coating cycles, respectively. The CA values were also larger than 150° after the glass modified by as-synthesized Ag 2 Se nanoplates was subsequently treated with a methanol solution of 2% (v/v) 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane [(C 2 H 5 O) 3 Si(CH 2 ) 2 C 8 F 17 ] for 1 h at room temperature, followed by drying at 120 °C for 1 h. As shown in Figs. 5(i)-5(m), the CA values were 145.2° (145.1° ± 1.0°, Fig.…”

“…Creation of complex nanostructures on multiplelength scales with novel properties and functionalities will be one of the most important scientific and technical challenges in the coming years [1][2][3]. Many inorganic complex nanostructures with novel properties and applications have been synthesized through self-assembly routes.…”

Morphology-controlled fabrication of polygonal ZnO nanobowls templated from spherical polymeric nanowell arrays

“…As properties of ZnO nanostructures dependent on their shape greatly, ZnO nanostructures of various morphologies and shapes have been prepared, including nanobelts [35], nanowires [36], nanorods [37] and nanotubes [38], etc. Most recently, Eswaremoorthy and co-workers [39] reported a robust procedure for synthesizing bowl shape ZnO nanoparticles. They employed a temperature-induced self-assembly and growth process to prepare bowl shape ZnO nanoparticles and systematically studied the shape-dependent properties of them.…”

Synthesis of well-dispersed ZnO nanomaterials by directly calcining zinc stearate

“…However, this route often suffers from both the decomposition of the combustible reagent at high temperature, especially in largescale synthesis, and the difficulties in the removal of undesirable impurities from the surface of the products. Comparatively, the direct pyrolysis of the metal complex in air provides a dry environment for the controllable preparation of ZnO nanorods [13], ZnO zeptoliter bowls and troughs [14], NiO nanoparticles [15] and ZrO 2 nano-laminate [16], with relatively high purity. Following the thermal-decomposing route, herein, we report the fabrication of different ZnO nanostructures via the formation of zinc stearate and the subsequent calcination of the precursor of zinc stearate.…”