Sol- gel synthesis of Ga2O3 nanorods and effect of precursor chemistry on their structural and morphological properties

Synthesis of mono-crystalline Ga₂O₃ Nanorods was done by sol-gel transformation of gallium(III) isopropoxide (Ga(OPrⁱ)₃). XRD studies were done to determine the planes and crystal structure of synthesized nanorods that showed the synthesis of β-Ga₂O₃(a). TEM studies of synthesized Ga₂O₃ confirmed the synthesis of monocrystalline β-Ga₂O₃ nanorods. To study the effect of precursor chemistry and to determine role of precursor structures on the crystal structure, phase and morphology of the Ga₂O₃, a new modified precursor complex was synthesized. The reaction of Ga(OPrⁱ)₃ with N-phenylsalicylaldimine, C₆H₄(OH)CH=N(C₆H₅)] in 1:1?M ratio yielded {(H₅C₆)N?=?CH-C₆H₄O}Ga(OPrⁱ)₂]. The newly synthesized complex was characterized by elemental analyses, molecular weight measurement, FT-IR and NMR (¹H and ¹³C) spectral studies. Spectral studies of the modified complex suggest the presence of bi-dentate mode of attachment of Schiff's base in the solution state. Sol-gel transformations of {(H₅C₆)N?=?CH-C₆H₄O}Ga(OPrⁱ)₂] in organic medium, yielded γ-Ga₂O₃(b), as found by XRD studies. TEM image of the sample (a) revealed the formation of nano-rods of oxide with average diameter of ~100?nm whereas the TEM image of sample (b) showed presence of nano-sized particles of oxide with average particle size of 10?nm. Morphological and compositional studies of synthesized samples (a) and (b) were carried out using SEM and EDX. The method provides a possibility of large scale synthesis of dissimilar shaped and pure Ga₂O₃ nanoparticles.