Shape controlled synthesis and growth mechanism of one-dimensional zinc oxide nanomaterials

Some types of ZnO nanostructures with various shape and size, including tetrapod-like ZnO (T-ZnO) nanorods, nanowires and nanonbbons, have been obtained by controlled growth process. The nanostructures of ZnO have been investigated by means of field-emission scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The growth mechanisms of various ZnO nanostructures were proposed and discussed.     

Spectral properties and dynamics of gold nanorods revealed by EMCCD‐based spectral phasor method

Gold nanorods (NRs) with tunable plasmon‐resonant absorption in the near‐infrared region have considerable advantages over organic fluorophores as imaging agents due to their brightness and lack of photobleaching. However, the luminescence spectral properties of NRs have not been fully characterized at the single particle level due to lack of proper analytic tools. Here, we present a spectral phasor analysis method that allows investigations of NRs' spectra at single particle level showing the spectral variance and providing spatial information during imaging. The broad phasor distribution obtained by the spectral phasor analysis indicates that spectra of NRs are different from particle to particle. NRs with different spectra can be identified in images with high spectral resolution. The spectral behaviors of NRs under different imaging conditions, for example, different excitation powers and wavelengths, were revealed by our laser‐scanning multiphoton microscope using a high‐resolution spectrograph with imaging capability. Our results prove that the spectral phasor method is an easy and efficient tool in hyper‐spectral imaging analysis to unravel subtle changes of the emission spectrum. We applied this method to study the spectral dynamics of NRs during direct optical trapping and by optothermal trapping. Interestingly, different spectral shifts were observed in both trapping phenomena. Microsc. Res. Tech. 78:283–293, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Brookite Formation in TiO2?Ag Nanocomposites and Visible‐Light‐Induced Templated Growth of Ag Nanostructures in TiO2

TiO₂? Ag‐nanocomposites exhibit various desirable properties that make them suitable for a variety of applications, for example in photocatalysis and as bactericidal coatings. In this work, a new method for processing TiO₂? Ag nanocomposites is presented. The nanocomposite films are fabricated from one precursor solution with high silver loading of up to 50%. The resulting films exhibit a microstructure consisting of TiO₂? Ag_xO nanocomposites with a largely XRD‐amorphous TiO₂ matrix containing brookite nanocrystals. This specific microstructure absorbs in the visible range so that photoreduction of Ag ions can be accomplished by using visible light. The thin films can be patterned using simple shadow masks. The illuminated areas show a high density of self‐organized nanoparticles (SNPs) and nanorods (SNRs), which are templated by the TiO₂ porous network. The particle size can be tuned by varying the irradiation time. Most of the SNPs and SNRs form faceted crystals, which are mostly a combination of {111} and {110}. The application of these films as substrates for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering is shown. Enhancement factors as high as 4.6 × 10⁶ could be obtained using rhodamine 6G dye molecules. More applications should involve photocatalytic water purification using visible light.     

水热法合成CdWO_4纳米棒及其光致发光性能

以硝酸镉、钨酸钠为原料,十二烷基苯磺酸钠(sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate,SDBS)为表面活性剂,采用水热法制备了钨酸镉(CdWO4)纳米棒。利用X射线衍射、场发射透射电镜和荧光光谱测试对样品进行表征。初步分析了SDBS浓度对CdWO4纳米粉末的微观形貌及其性能的影响,并探讨了其可能的形成机理。结果表明:当SDBS的浓度为0.002mol/L时,得到短柱状CdWO4纳米粉末,随着SDBS浓度增大,制得的CdWO4纳米棒长径比增大;当SDBS浓度为0.2mol/L时,得到长柱状CdWO4纳米棒,其长径比为20～25。在300nm波长激发下,短柱状和长柱状CdWO4纳米棒均有490nm的宽发射峰,且随着长径比的增大CdWO4纳米棒的光致发光性能增强。     

热氧化法制备ZnO纳米棒及其结构表征

在无催化剂条件下,采用热蒸发Zn源,以N2为载气体,在SiO2衬底上反应沉积制备出单晶氧化锌纳米棒。XRD研究表明纳米棒为结晶完好的纤锌矿结构,并且为非定向生长,非定向生长的氧化锌纳米棒减弱了棒之间的屏蔽效应,表现出较好的场发射效果,为未来场发射电子器件的实际应用提供了可靠依据。     

Hierarchical ZnS‐In2S3‐CuS Nanospheres with Nanoporous Structure: Facile Synthesis,Growth Mechanism,and Excellent Photocatalytic Activity

Without using any templates or surfactants, hierarchical ZnS‐In₂S₃‐CuS nanospheres with nanoporous structure are successfully synthesized via a simple and convenient process. The nanospheres are aggregations of densely packed nanoparticles and nanorods. Different to the oriented attachment (OA) mechanism reported in the literature, the formation of these nanorods is believed to follow a lateral OA mechanism (nanoparticles attach along the direction perpendicular to the crystallographic axes with lateral planes as the juncture) based on the experimental data. This process could be a general phenomenon and would provide a new insight into the OA mechanism. A detailed time‐resolved TEM kinetic study of the formation of the complex structure is shown. The dipole mechanism and electric field‐induced growth are found to be responsible for the final architecture. Photocatalytic activities for water splitting are investigated under visible‐light irradiation (λ > 400 nm) and an especially high photocatalytic activity (apparent yield of 22.6% at 420 nm) is achieved by unloaded ZnIn_0.25Cu_0.02S_1.395 prepared at 180 °C for 18 h because of their high crystallinity, large pore volume, and the presence of nanorods with special microstructures.