New Growth Mechanisms for Synthesizing Various Novel Nanostructures

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Synthesis, Interfaces and Nanostructures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2022) | Viewed by 9837

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, Korea
Interests: nanomaterials; low-dimensional materials; heterostructures; nanohybrid materials; nanocomposites; growth mechanisms; materials chemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nanostructures have received much attention due to their new physical and chemical properties originating from their low dimensionality. Due to their exotic properties, the nanostructures have been widely utilized for various applications such as energy conversions, electronics, optoelectronics, and catalysis. In order to increase their potential uses in these applications, it is highly desirable to develop new synthetic methods and growth mechanisms for producing nanostructures with desired properties suitable for the applications. To prepare various functional nanostructures, a variety of synthetic methods have been successfully established, including chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, hydrothermal methods, solvothermal methods, electrochemical methods, photo-induced methods, etc. In addition, significant research efforts have been devoted to developing new mechanisms for controlling the structural, chemical, and physical properties of the nanostructures.

This Special Issue of Nanomaterials will attempt to cover the most recent advances in new synthetic strategies and growth mechanisms for preparing novel functional nanostructures, including novel nanoparticles, nanowires, two-dimensional materials, nanoscale heterostructures, nanohybrid materials, nanocomposites, etc.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

  • Controlled synthesis and characterization of novel nanostructures
  • Controlled vapor-phase synthesis of functional nanostructures
  • Controlled solution-phase synthesis of functional nanostructures
  • New growth mechanisms and synthetic strategies for novel nanostructures

Prof. Dr. Youngdong Yoo
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Nanostructures
  • Nanomaterials
  • Nanoparticles
  • Nanowires
  • Two-dimensional materials
  • Heterostructures
  • Nanohybrid materials
  • Nanocomposites
  • Growth mechanisms
  • Novel synthesis

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

30 pages, 12217 KiB  
Article
ZnO Nanoparticles from Different Precursors and Their Photocatalytic Potential for Biomedical Use
by Maria-Anna Gatou, Nefeli Lagopati, Ioanna-Aglaia Vagena, Maria Gazouli and Evangelia A. Pavlatou
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(1), 122; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano13010122 - 26 Dec 2022
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3838
Abstract
Semiconductor photocatalysts, particularly ZnO nanoparticles, were synthesized via the precipitation method using four different precursors (zinc acetate/zinc nitrate/zinc sulfate/zinc chloride) and compared, according to their optical, structural, photocatalytic, and anticancer properties. The materials were characterized via X-ray Diffraction method (XRD), micro-Raman, Fourier Transform [...] Read more.
Semiconductor photocatalysts, particularly ZnO nanoparticles, were synthesized via the precipitation method using four different precursors (zinc acetate/zinc nitrate/zinc sulfate/zinc chloride) and compared, according to their optical, structural, photocatalytic, and anticancer properties. The materials were characterized via X-ray Diffraction method (XRD), micro-Raman, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) analysis. Photocatalysis was conducted under UV and visible light irradiation, using Rhodamine B as the organic pollutant. It was observed that the highest photocatalysis efficiency was obtained by the nanoparticles synthesized from the zinc acetate used as precursor material. A cell-dependent anticancer efficiency of the tested ZnO nanoparticles was also observed, that was also attributed to the different precursors and the synthesis method, revealing that the nanoparticles that were synthesized from zinc acetate were more bioactive among the four tested precursors. Overall, the data revealed that both the enhanced photocatalytic and biological activity of ZnO nanoparticles derived from zinc acetate precursor could be attributed to the reduced crystalline size, increased surface area, as well as the observed hexagonal crystalline morphology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Growth Mechanisms for Synthesizing Various Novel Nanostructures)
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13 pages, 3872 KiB  
Article
Surface Modification of ZrO2 Nanoparticles with TEOS to Prepare Transparent ZrO2@SiO2-PDMS Nanocomposite Films with Adjustable Refractive Indices
by Hanjun Cho, Deunchan Lee, Suyeon Hong, Heegyeong Kim, Kwanghyeon Jo, Changwook Kim and Ilsun Yoon
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(14), 2328; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano12142328 - 06 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2727
Abstract
Here, highly transparent nanocomposite films with an adjustable refractive index were fabricated through stable dispersion of ZrO2 (n = 2.16) nanoparticles (NPs) subjected to surface modification with SiO2 (n = 1.46) in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) (n = 1.42) using [...] Read more.
Here, highly transparent nanocomposite films with an adjustable refractive index were fabricated through stable dispersion of ZrO2 (n = 2.16) nanoparticles (NPs) subjected to surface modification with SiO2 (n = 1.46) in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) (n = 1.42) using the Stöber method. ZrO2 NPs (13.7 nm) were synthesized using conventional hydrothermal synthesis, and their surface modification with SiO2 (ZrO2@SiO2 NPs) was controlled by varying the reaction time (3–54 h). The surface modification of the NPs was characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and ellipsometry. The surface modification was monitored, and the effective layer thickness of SiO2 varied from 0.1 nm to 4.2 nm. The effective refractive index of the ZrO2@SiO2 NPs at λ = 633 nm was gradually reduced from 2.16 to 1.63. The 100 nm nanocomposite film was prepared by spin-coating the dispersion of ZrO2@SiO2 NPs in PDMS on the coverslip. The nanocomposite film prepared using ZrO2@SiO2 NPs with a reaction time of 18 h (ZrO2@SiO2-18h-PDMS) exhibited excellent optical transparency (Taverage = 91.1%), close to the transparency of the coverslip (Taverage = 91.4%) in the visible range, and an adjustable refractive index (n = 1.42–1.60) as the NP content in the film increased from 0 to 50.0 wt%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Growth Mechanisms for Synthesizing Various Novel Nanostructures)
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9 pages, 1887 KiB  
Article
Epitaxially Integrated Hierarchical ZnO/Au/SrTiO3 and ZnO/Ag/Al2O3 Heterostructures: Three-Dimensional Plasmo-Photonic Nanoarchitecturing
by Youngdong Yoo, Minjung Kim and Bongsoo Kim
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(12), 3262; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11123262 - 30 Nov 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1533
Abstract
In this study, we fabricated three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical plasmo-photonic nanoarchitectures by epitaxially integrating semiconducting zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires with vertically oriented plasmonic gold (Au) and silver (Ag) nanoplatforms and investigated their growth mechanisms in detail. We synthesized 3D hierarchical Au–ZnO nanostructures via a [...] Read more.
In this study, we fabricated three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical plasmo-photonic nanoarchitectures by epitaxially integrating semiconducting zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires with vertically oriented plasmonic gold (Au) and silver (Ag) nanoplatforms and investigated their growth mechanisms in detail. We synthesized 3D hierarchical Au–ZnO nanostructures via a vapor–solid mechanism leading to the epitaxial growth of ZnO nanowires on vertically oriented single-crystalline Au nanowires on a strontium titanate (SrTiO3) substrate. The elongated half-octahedral Au nanowires with a rhombus cross-section were transformed into thermodynamically stable elongated cuboctahedral Au nanowires with a hexagonal cross-section during the reaction. After the transformation, ZnO thin films with six twinned domains were formed on the side planes of the elongated cuboctahedral Au nanowire trunks, and six ZnO nanowire branches were grown on the ZnO thin films. Further, 3D hierarchical Ag–ZnO nanostructures were obtained via the same vapor–solid mechanism leading to the epitaxial growth of ZnO nanowires on vertically oriented Ag nanoplates on an aluminum oxide (Al2O3) substrate. Therefore, the growth mechanism developed herein can be generally employed to fabricate 3D hierarchical plasmo-photonic nanoarchitectures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Growth Mechanisms for Synthesizing Various Novel Nanostructures)
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14 pages, 33641 KiB  
Article
A Novel Carbon-Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition Growth of Large-Area Uniform Monolayer MoS2 and WS2
by Jeonghwan Bae and Youngdong Yoo
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(9), 2423; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11092423 - 17 Sep 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3671
Abstract
Monolayer MoS2 can be used for various applications such as flexible optoelectronics and electronics due to its exceptional optical and electronic properties. For these applications, large-area synthesis of high-quality monolayer MoS2 is highly desirable. However, the conventional chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [...] Read more.
Monolayer MoS2 can be used for various applications such as flexible optoelectronics and electronics due to its exceptional optical and electronic properties. For these applications, large-area synthesis of high-quality monolayer MoS2 is highly desirable. However, the conventional chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method using MoO3 and S powder has shown limitations in synthesizing high-quality monolayer MoS2 over a large area on a substrate. In this study, we present a novel carbon cloth-assisted CVD method for large-area uniform synthesis of high-quality monolayer MoS2. While the conventional CVD method produces thick MoS2 films in the center of the substrate and forms MoS2 monolayers at the edge of the thick MoS2 films, our carbon cloth-assisted CVD method uniformly grows high-quality monolayer MoS2 in the center of the substrate. The as-synthesized monolayer MoS2 was characterized in detail by Raman/photoluminescence spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. We reveal the growth process of monolayer MoS2 initiated from MoS2 seeds by synthesizing monolayer MoS2 with varying reaction times. In addition, we show that the CVD method employing carbon powder also produces uniform monolayer MoS2 without forming thick MoS2 films in the center of the substrate. This confirms that the large-area growth of monolayer MoS2 using the carbon cloth-assisted CVD method is mainly due to reducing properties of the carbon material, rather than the effect of covering the carbon cloth. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our carbon cloth-assisted CVD method is generally applicable to large-area uniform synthesis of other monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, including monolayer WS2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Growth Mechanisms for Synthesizing Various Novel Nanostructures)
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