Visible-transparent and UV/IR-opaque colloidal dispersions of Ga-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

ZnO:Ga supracolloidal particles are disaggregated into transparent dispersions in the visible range and may be used as an effective UV and infrared filter.

Sucrose-Mediated Fast Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants in Water

“…In addition to the semiconductor property, ZnO has intriguing piezoelectric, oxidizing, and antibacterial properties. − Moreover, because of the cheaper price, abundance, and high chemical, as well as physical robustness, ZnO is widely used in a number of applications. For example, ZnO is used in transparent electrodes of the dye-sensitized solar cells, piezoelectric nanogenerators, sensing, as fillers in numerous products, ultraviolet (UV) light absorbers in personal care products, light-emitting diodes, UV photodetectors, and photocatalysis. − As a photocatalyst, ZnO and its nanocomposites demonstrate excellent ability toward the degradation of organic pollutants in water under the UV light illumination. − Organic pollutants undergo degradation on the ZnO surface through the redox processes driven by the electronic excitation between valence and conduction bands (CBs) . Also, ZnO has the ability to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) under the UV light irradiation, which can degrade organic pollutants and inactivate or inhibit microorganisms in water.…”

Colloidal Approaches to Zinc Oxide Nanocrystals

“…(c–e) Ga-doped ZnO NCs obtained via disaggregation of “supracolloidal” particles. Adapted with permission from ref . Copyright 2016 Royal Society of Chemistry.…”

“…Importantly, the polyol method was also demonstrated to be very effective in the synthesis of doped ZnO NCs, as well as heterostructures between ZnO and other nanomaterials. − An interesting approach was proposed by Mornet and co-workers who adopted a polyol method involving the forced hydrolysis of zinc acetate (and gallium nitrate as dopant) in diethylene glycol at 170 °C to obtain large aggregates (hundreds of nanometers in diameter) of NCs. These “supracolloidal” particles were then disaggregated with hexadecanethiol and sonication, producing stable colloidal suspensions of thiol-capped ZnO NCs ∼10 nm in size and slightly elongated in shape (Figure c–e) . For reference, a summary of selected base-catalyzed forced hydrolysis reactions is presented in Table .…”

“…These "supracolloidal" particles were then disaggregated with hexadecanethiol and sonication, producing stable colloidal suspensions of thiol-capped ZnO NCs ∼10 nm in size and slightly elongated in shape (Figure 9c−e). 139 For reference, a summary of selected base-catalyzed forced hydrolysis reactions is presented in Table 2.…”