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Study of the Growth of Capped ZnO Nanocrystals: A Route to Rational Synthesis
Author(s) -
Viswanatha Ranjani,
Sarma D. D.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.200500632
Subject(s) - ostwald ripening , nanocrystal , materials science , rational design , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , chemical physics , chemistry , engineering
Abstract We report the study of complex and unexpected dependencies of nanocrystal size as well as nanocrystal‐size distribution on various reaction parameters in the synthesis of ZnO nanocrystals using poly(vinyl pyrollidone) (PVP) as a capping agent. This method establishes a qualitatively different growth mechanism to the anticipated Ostwald ripening behavior. The study of size‐distribution kinetics and an understanding of the observed non‐monotonic behaviors provides a route to rational synthesis. We used a simple, but accurate, approach to estimate the size‐distribution function of nanocrystals from the UV‐absorption spectrum. Our results demonstrate the accuracy and generality of this approach, and we also illustrate its application to various semiconducting nanocrystals, such as ZnO, ZnS, and CdSe, over a wide size range (1.8–5.3 nm).