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One‐Step Synthesis of Hybrid Liquid–Crystal ZnO Nanoparticles: Existence of a Critical Temperature Associated with the Anisotropy of the Nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Zheng Zhiqin,
Butynska Rémy,
Serrano Clara Valverde,
Marty JeanDaniel,
Mingotaud Christophe,
Kahn Myrtil L.
Publication year - 2016
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.201602742
Subject(s) - nanoparticle , materials science , liquid crystal , anisotropy , isotropy , zinc , chemical engineering , crystal (programming language) , phase (matter) , hydrolysis , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chemistry , optics , optoelectronics , metallurgy , physics , engineering , computer science , programming language
Zinc oxide nanoparticles were obtained from the hydrolysis of an organometallic precursor in pure hexadecylamine. Interestingly, we demonstrate that the final (anisotropic or isotropic) shape of the nanoparticles is strongly correlated to the existence of a critical temperature. This suggests that the organization of the fatty amines is a paramount parameter in this synthesis. Moreover, the final hybrid ZnO materials systematically exhibit a liquid–crystal smectic phase, whereas no liquid–crystal phase was observed in the pristine reaction media. This simple process is, therefore, a direct and straightforward method to synthesize liquid–crystal hybrid materials.