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Polymer nanofiber‐templated fabrication and characterization of gallium oxide nanofibers consisting of granular nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Park SooJin,
Barakat Nasser AM,
Jeong KwangUn,
Kim HakYong
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.2951
Subject(s) - nanofiber , materials science , electrospinning , polyacrylonitrile , gallium , nanotechnology , calcination , scanning electron microscope , chemical engineering , photoluminescence , fabrication , polymer , composite material , optoelectronics , organic chemistry , medicine , catalysis , chemistry , alternative medicine , pathology , engineering , metallurgy
Gallium oxide (β‐Ga 2 O 3 ) is an interesting semiconductor that has a wide bandgap and can be used as an optoelectronic material in flat‐panel displays, solar energy conversion devices and optical limiters for UV light. However, it is difficult to fabricate and process Ga 2 O 3 nanofibers for actual optoelectronic applications. When the excellent processability of polymeric materials is introduced into the inorganic nanofiber fabrication process, this limitation can be easily overcome. The aim of the research reported was to prepare granular Ga 2 O 3 nanofibers utilizing an electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofiber template combined with sol‐gel technology. Ga 2 O 3 nanofibers were successfully fabricated by electrospinning a solution of polyacrylonitrile mixed with gallium nitrate and subsequent calcination. The surface and bulk morphologies of the calcined nanofibers investigated using field‐emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that Ga 2 O 3 nanofibers were constructed by the fusion of gallium oxide nanoparticles. TEM bright‐field images combined with selected‐area electron diffraction indicated that the average diameter of the Ga 2 O 3 nanofibers produced was ca 55 nm and the crystalline structure was β‐Ga 2 O 3 with a monoclinic unit cell. Furthermore, the photoluminescence spectrum of the Ga 2 O 3 nanofibers exhibited two strong green emission peaks and one UV emission peak. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry