Please login first
Study of the influence of process parameters on the morphology of ZnO nanostructures
* 1 , 2 , 2 , 2
1  National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies IMT-Bucharest, Romania
2  National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies IMT-Bucharest
Academic Editor: Guanying Chen

Published: 05 May 2023 by MDPI in The 4th International Online Conference on Nanomaterials session Poster
Abstract:

Current efforts in the field of nanotechnology have led to the orientation of research towards transition metal oxide nanostructures, due to the characteristics it possesses, such as: composition, shape, high surface-to-volume ratio, thermal and chemical stability, low toxicity and the ability to be modified with specific sensitive elements. Among transition oxides, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures are considered materials with applicative potential, which have found their applicability in different scientific fields (e.g. optoelectronic devices, textile industry, food packaging, luminescent materials, drug delivery, bioimaging, medical device, cancer diagnostics, etc). In the case of these materials, it was found that the morphology of ZnO plays an essential role in the development of applications in that regard, being necessary for rigorous control of the main factors that influence the size, shape, agglomeration tendency, and orientation of the nanostructures. Also, depending on the synthesis method approached, ZnO can be obtained in different forms, which determines various physico-chemical properties. In the present paper, the researchers were oriented to synthesize different types of ZnO nanostructures by chemical method, the process variable being optimized (e.g. concentration of precursors, types of solvents, pH, time, temperature, etc.), but also the parameters required for thermal treatment. To obtain the characteristic structural and morphological information, ZnO nanostructures were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. SEM analysis confirms that the morphology and size of the ZnO nanostructures depend on the process parameters. The XRD results reveal that the synthesized samples have a crystalline structure, and FTIR spectra show the presence of Zn-O bonding. The wetting capacity of continuous ZnO surfaces with different morphologies was studied by measuring the contact angle, indicating the wetting and percolation capacity, depending on the orientation of the synthesized nanostructures.

Keywords: Zinc oxide; chemical synthesis; nanostructures; morphology
Top