ZnO nucleation into trititanate nanotubes by ALD equipment techniques, a new way to functionalize layered metal oxides

Abstract

In this contribution, we explore the potential of atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques for developing new semiconductor metal oxide composites. Specifically, we investigate the functionalization of multi-wall trititanate nanotubes, H2Ti3O7 NTs (sample T1) with zinc oxide employing two different ALD approaches: vapor phase metalation (VPM) using diethylzinc (Zn(C2H5)2, DEZ) as a unique ALD precursor, and multiple pulsed vapor phase infiltration (MPI) using DEZ and water as precursors. We obtained two different types of tubular H2Ti3O7 species containing ZnO in their structures. Multi-wall trititanate nanotubes with ZnO intercalated inside the tube wall sheets were the main products from the VPM infiltration (sample T2). On the other hand, MPI (sample T3) principally leads to single-wall nanotubes with a ZnO hierarchical bi-modal functionalization, thin film coating, and surface decorated with ZnO particles. The products were mainly characterized by electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. An initial evaluation of the optical characteristics of the products demonstrated that they behaved as semiconductors. The IR study revealed the role of water, endogenous and/or exogenous, in determining the structure and properties of the products. The results confirm that ALD is a versatile tool, promising for developing tailor-made semiconductor materials.

Vapor-Phase Molecular Doping in Covalent Organosiloxane Network Thin Films Via a Lewis Acid–Base Interaction for Enhanced Mechanical Properties

“…The BE of the O 1s peak for the ZnO-PV 3 D 3 film locates at 532.90 ± 0.11 eV, which is higher than our pristine PV 3 D 3 (532.50 eV, Figure S2) and reported ZnO (528–531 eV). − The increased O 1s BE indicates the formation of metal hydroxide groups , (i.e., terminal Zn–OH) in our VPI ZnO-PV 3 D 3 .…”

Manufacturing of TiO2, Al2O3 and Y2O3 Ceramic Nanotubes for Application as Electrodes for Printable Electrochemical Sensors

“…Radiofrequency magnetron sputtering is a common deposition technique used to obtain controlled thin films with high technological reproducibility, and can be successfully used for coating polymer nanofiber nets with the metallic oxides [31][32][33][34][35][36]. There are some ceramic nanotubes described in the literature, from simple ceramic nanotubes, such ZnO, CuO, Co 3 O 4 , SnO 2 , MnO 2 or TiO 2 nanotubes, to more complex ceramic nanotubes, such as Li 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 , Na0 .7 Fe 0.77 Mn 0.3 O 2 , LiMn 2 O 4 , LiCoO 2 , NiCo 2 O 4 or LiV 3 O 8 , based on fabrication processes of large spectrum, e.g., electrodeposition [37,38], hydrothermal [39,40], precipitation [41,42], electrospinning combined with calcination [43,44], and atomic layer deposition [45,46].…”