Room‐Temperature Laser Synthesis in Liquid of Oxide, Metal‐Oxide Core‐Shells, and Doped Oxide Nanoparticles

Abstract

Although oxide nanoparticles are ubiquitous in science and technology, a multitude of compositions, phases, structures, and doping levels exist, each one requiring a variety of conditions for their synthesis and modification. Besides, experimental procedures are frequently dominated by high temperatures or pressures and by chemical contaminants or waste. In recent years, laser synthesis of colloids emerged as a versatile approach to access a library of clean oxide nanoparticles relying on only four main strategies running at room temperature and ambient pressure: laser ablation in liquid, laser fragmentation in liquid, laser melting in liquid and laser defect‐engineering in liquid. Here, established laser‐based methodologies are reviewed through the presentation of a panorama of oxide nanoparticles which include pure oxidic phases, as well as unconventional structures like defective or doped oxides, non‐equilibrium compounds, metal‐oxide core–shells and other anisotropic morphologies. So far, these materials showed several useful properties that are discussed with special emphasis on catalytic, biomedical and optical application. Yet, given the endless number of mixed compounds accessible by the laser‐assisted methodologies, there is still a lot of room to expand the library of nano‐crystals and to refine the control over products as well as to improve the understanding of the whole process of nanoparticle formation. To that end, this review aims to identify the perspectives and unique opportunities of laser‐based synthesis and processing of colloids for future studies of oxide nanomaterial‐oriented sciences.

Synthesis of gold, platinum, and gold-platinum alloy nanoparticle colloids with high-power megahertz-repetition-rate lasers: the importance of the beam guidance method

“…Laser synthesis of colloids (LSC) is a method used to produce colloidal nanoparticles by laser ablating the surface of a solid material, which is immersed in a liquid (Zhang et al 2017), (Amendola et al 2020). The main advantages of the method are its straightforward experimental design, a high variety of applicable combinations of solid material and liquid, and the absent need of using ligands to control the nanoparticle formation.…”

Nanoparticles Engineering by Pulsed Laser Ablation in Liquids: Concepts and Applications

“…Laser synthesis of colloids, powered by robust, high-power lasers, appears to be a key enabling process that is chemically clean and environmentally friendly, and appealing [ 23 , 24 ] for industrial manufacturing of functional nanomaterials while being useful in many different areas, such as: hydrogen generation [ 16 ], hydrogen storage [ 25 ], heterogeneous catalysis using colloidal high-entropy alloy NPs [ 26 , 27 ], anticancer [ 28 ] and antimicrobial [ 29 ] research, drug monitoring [ 30 ], additive manufacturing applications [ 31 , 32 ], and nonlinear nanophotonics [ 33 ]. In addition, NPs prepared by the Laser Ablation in Liquids (LAL) have been recently used for various and unique applications like friction reduction [ 34 ], solar nanofluids [ 35 , 36 ], optical limiting devices [ 37 , 38 ] and so on.…”

In situ speciation and spatial mapping of Zn products during pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL) by combined synchrotron methods

“…Such growth and oxide formation processes have recently been reviewed by Zhang et al addressing the ripening (and seed-growth) behaviour during laser ablation in liquids, in particular of oxidationsensitive material, 64 and Amendola et al comprehensively summarizing the laser synthesis of oxide particles. 65 Transmission electron micrographs in Fig. 3 of the collected particles generally confirm the broad size distribution, displaying small particles and agglomerates thereof in the 10 nm range as well as large solid spheres.…”