High Performance Ultraviolet Photodetector Fabricated with ZnO Nanoparticles-graphene Hybrid Structures

Ultraviolet （UV） photodetector constructed by ZnO material has attracted intense research and commercial interest. However, its photoresistivity and photoresonse are still unsatisfied. Herein, we report a novel method to assemble ZnO nanoparticles （NPs） onto the reduced graphite oxide （RGO） sheet by simple hydrothermal process without any surfactant. It is found that the high-quality crystallized ZnO NPs with the average diameter of 5 nm are well dispersed on the RGO surface, and the density of ZnO NPs can be readily controlled by the concentration of the precursor. The photodetector fabricated with this ZnO NPs- RGO hybrid structure demonstrates an excellent photoresponse for the UV irradiation. The results make this hybrid especially suitable as a novel material for the design and fabrication of high performance UV photodector.

Graft modification of ZnO nanoparticles with silane coupling agent KH570 in mixed solvent

The reaction of ZnO nanoparticles grafted with KH570 silane coupling agent was carried out in water-alcohol mixed solvent. Several characterization methods were applied to analyzing the results of surface modification such as Soxhlet extraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FT-IR）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, thermogravimetry （TG）, differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） and zeta potential （ζ）. The results of FT-IR and TG-DSC show that the desired reaction chains have been covalently bonded on the surface of ZnO nanoparticles. Zetasizer results reveal that the maximal absolute value of ζ of the modified ZnO particles in acetone medium was 67.0 mV, which was much higher than that of the unmodified ZnO particles. So the surface of nanosized ZnO changed from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity and the dispersity of ZnO nanoparticles were improved simultaneously. Finally, the mechanism of graft modification was discussed.

Preparation of ZnO Nanoparticles from Zn-containing Rotary Hearth Furnace Dust

To solve the problem of the low added value Zn-containing rotary hearth furnace(RHF)dust,two deep eutectic solvents(DESs)were employed,such as choline chloride-urea(ChCl-urea)and choline chloride-oxalic acid dihydrate(CC-OA)solvent and Zn-containing RHF dust(water-washed)as the research target.Then,we prepared ZnO nanoparticles using two DESs or their combination,namely,ChCl-urea(Method A),CC-OA(Method B),first CC-OA and then ChCl-urea(Method B-A)and first ChCl-urea and then CCOA(Method A-B),respectively.The effects of these methods on the properties of as-obtained precursors and ZnO nanoparticles were investigated in detail.The results indicated that the precursor obtained by Method A was Zn_(4)CO_(3)(OH)_(6)·H_(2)O,and those by Methods B,B-A,and A-B were all ZnC_(2)O_(4)·2H_(2)O.Moreover,the decomposition steps of the last three methods were similar.The ZnO contents of 95.486%,99.768%,99.733%,and 99.76%were obtained by Methods A,B,B-A,and A-B,respectively.Methods A,B,and B-A led to the formation of spherical and agglomerated ZnO nanoparticles with normal size distributions,where Method B showed the best distribution with an average diameter 25 nm.The ZnO nanoparticles obtained by the Method A-B did not possess good properties.

Preparation and UV-light Absorption Property of Oleic Acid Surface Modified ZnO Nanoparticles

Syntheses of zince oxide（ZnO） nanoparticles by direct precipitation and surface modification with oleic acid were reported. ZnO nanoparticles were characterized via X-ray diffractometry（XRD）, transmission electron microscopy（TEM）, infrared spectroscopy（IR） and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The prepared ZnO nanoparticles were nearly spherical and highly crystalline with an average size of 29 nm. In addition, high UV-light absorption properties of oleic acid surface modified ZnO nanoparticles were successfully obtained for a dispersion of ZnO nanoparticles in ethanol.

Fabrication of ZnO nanoparticles-embedded hydrogenated diamond-like carbon films by electrochemical deposition technique

ZnO nanoparticles-embedded hydrogenated diamond-like carbon （ZnO-DLC） films have been prepared by electro- chemical deposition in ambient conditions. The morphology, composition, and microstructure of the films have been investigated. The results show that the resultant films are hydrogenated diamond-like carbon films embedded with ZnO nanoparticles in wurtzite structure, and the content and size of the ZnO nanoparticles increase with increasing deposition voltage, which are confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, Raman, and transmission electron microscope （TEM）. Furthermore, a possible mechanism used to describe the growth process of ZnO-DLC films by electrochemical deposition is also discussed.

Determining the thermophysical properties of Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles by the photoacoustic technique

The thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of undoped and Al-doped （1–10 at.%） ZnO nanoparticles prepared using the solvent thermal method are determined by measuring both thermal diffusivity and thermal effusivity of a pressed powder compact of the prepared nanoparticles by using the laser-induced photoacoustic technique. The impact of Al doping versus the microstructure of the samples on such thermal parameters has been investigated. The results reveal an obvious enhancement in the specific heat capacity when decreasing the particle size, while the effect of Al doping on the specific heat capacity is minor. The measured thermal conductivities are about one order of magnitude smaller than that of the bulk ZnO due to several nested reducing heat transfer mechanisms. The results also show that Al doping significantly influences the thermal resistance. Using a simple thermal impedance model, the added thermal resistance due to Al dopant has been estimated.

Characteristics and Photoeatalytie Effects of Zn/ZnO Nanowhiskers Compared with ZnO Nanoparticles

ZnO nanopowders were prepared by oxidizing Zn vapor in the atmosphere of mixture gas of At and O2 at low pressure. Tetrapod nanowhiskers synthesized at a pressure of 1.6 kPa show pure ZnO feet and Zn phase in the core of the nanopowder. The ellipsoid ZnO nanoparticles were produced at the pressure of 10 kPa. The photodegradation rate of aniline and chemical oxygen demand removal demonstrate that the photocatalytic efficiency of Zn/ZnO nanowhiskers with UV irradiation is higher than that ofZnO nanoparticles. The tetrapod morphology and Zn phase inside nanowhiskers play key a role in photodegradation process.

Green Method, Optical and Structural Characterization of ZnO Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Leaves Extract of M. oleifera

ZnO nanoparticles(ZnO-NP)present innovative optical,electrical,and magnetic properties that depend on spe-cific characteristics,e.g.,size,distribution,and morphology.Thus,these properties are essential to address various applications in areas such as electronics,medicine,energy,and others.In addition,the performance of this ZnO-NP depends of their preparation which can be done by chemical,physical,and biological methods.Meanwhile,nowadays,the main interest in developing ZnO-NP synthesis through biological methods bases on the decrease of use of toxic chemicals or energy applied to the procedures,making the process more cost-effective and environ-mentally friendly.However,the large-scale production of nanoparticles by green synthesis remains a big challenge due to the complexity of the biological extracts used in chemical reactions.That being the case,the preparation of ZnO-NP using Moringa oleifera extract as an alternative biological agent for capping and reduction in synthesis was evaluated in this work.Then,the results based on the analysis of the optical and structural characterization of the ZnO-NP obtained by employing UV-Vis,DLS,zeta potential,XRD,ATR-FTIR,and FE-SEM indicate mostly the presence of spherical nanosized material with a mean hydrodynamic diameter of 47.2 nm measured by DLS and a mean size diameter of 25 nm observed with FE-SEM technique.Furthermore,in FE-SEM images a homo-geneous dispersion and distribution is observed in the absence of agglutination,agglomeration,or generation of significant lumps of the ZnO-NP.The XRD analysis showed that heat annealing induced the crystallite size favor-ing their monocrystallinity.Those obtained data confirm the synthesis of ZnO-NP and the absence of impurities associated with organic compounds in the annealed samples.Finally,those results and low-cost production pre-sent to the synthesized ZnO-NP by this biological method as a useful material in several applications.

High-frequency properties of oil-phase-synthesized ZnO nanoparticles

Monodispersive ZnO nanoparticles each with a hexagonal wurtzite structure are facilely prepared by the hightemperature organic phase method.The UV-visible absorption peak of ZnO nanoparticles presents an obvious blue-shift from 385 nm of bulk ZnO to 369 nm.Both the real part and the image part of the complex permittivity of ZnO nanoparticles from 0.1 GHz to 10 GHz linearly decrease without obvious resonance peak appearing.The real parts of intrinsic permittivity of ZnO nanoparticles are about 5.7 and 5.0 at 0.1 GHz and 10 GHz respectively,and show an obvious size-dependent behavior.The dielectric loss angle tangent（tan 5） of ZnO nanoparticles with a different weight ratio shows a different decreasing law with the increase of frequency.

Spectral features and antibacterial properties of Cu-doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared by sol-gel method

Zn（1-x）Cux O（x=0.00, 0.01, 0.03, and 0.05） nanoparticles are synthesized via the sol-gel technique using gelatin and nitrate precursors. The impact of copper concentration on the structural, optical, and antibacterial properties of these nanoparticles is demonstrated. Powder x-ray diffraction investigations have illustrated the organized Cu doping into ZnO nanoparticles up to Cu concentration of 5%（x = 0.05）. However, the peak corresponding to CuO for x= 0.01 is not distinguishable. The images of field emission scanning electron microscopy demonstrate the existence of a nearly spherical shape with a size in the range of 30–52 nm. Doping Cu creates the Cu–O–Zn on the surface and results in a decrease in the crystallite size. Photoluminescence and absorption spectra display that doping Cu causes an increment in the energy band gap. The antibacterial activities of the nanoparticles are examined against Escherichia coli（Gram negative bacteria）cultures using optical density at 600 nm and a comparison of the size of inhibition zone diameter. It is found that both pure and doped ZnO nanoparticles indicate appropriate antibacterial activity which rises with Cu doping.

Random lasing from dye-doped negative liquid crystals using ZnO nanoparticles as tunable scatters

This work demonstrates the realization of a lasing in scattering media,which contains dispersive solution of Zn O nanoparticles（NPs） and laser dye 4-dicyanomethylene-2-methyle-6-（p-dimethylaminostyryl）-4H-pyran（DCM） in negative liquid crystals（LCs） that was injected into a cell.The lasing intensity of the dye-doped negative LC laser can be tuned from low to high if the NPs concentration is increased.The tunability of the laser is attributable to the clusters-sensitive feature in effective refractive index of the negative LCs.Such a tunable negative liquid crystal laser can be used in the fabrication of new optical sources,optical communication,and liquid crystal laser displays.

Highly Ordered Lattice Orientation of ZnO Nanoparticles Formed in Confined Space

Oriented aggregation of nanoparticles has been accomplished by means of solid state reac- tion. Non-crystallized and crystallized ZnO nanoparticles/clusters could be accommodated in the lamellar spacing of inorganic-organic composite, which were prepared by thermolysis of layered solid zinc-oleate complex at 260 and 300 ℃ in air, respectively. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction patterns indicate that aggregates are single crystals with various defects. The photoluminescence excitation spectra of both samples show two bands at 272 and 366 nm. The former may originate from electron transfer from valence band to conduction band in ZnO clusters composed of less than 200 ZnO molecules （2R〈2 nm）.

Preparation of cerium and yttrium doped ZnO nanoparticles and tracking their structural,optical,and photocatalytic performances

Yttrium(Y)and cerium(Ce)co-doped ZnO nanoparticles(NPs)were synthesized via the simple sol-gel auto-combustion route.The effect of Ce and Y doping on the structure,morphology,optical,Zeta potential,and photocatalytic activities of ZnO NPs was examined by Fourier transform infrared(FTIR)spectrometer,X-ray diffraction(XRD),transmission electron microscope(TEM),UV-vis spectrophotometer,and Zetasizer instrument.XRD data show that the fabricated samples crystallize into a hexagonal wurtzite structure.The dopants Y and Ce affect the crystal structure of ZnO NPs.The crystallite size is reduced with the co-doping effect.TEM results confirm the nano-sized particles of the prepared samples.An increase in optical bandgap values from 3.19 eV for x=0.0 to 3.22,3.24,and 3.25 eV for x=0.01,0.03,and 0.05 samples was confirmed by UV-Vis spectroscopy analysis.Y and Ce co-doped ZnO nanoparticles show significant alteration of zeta potential and photocatalytic properties compared to undoped ZnO NPs.Comparatively,undoped ZnO shows better stability in deionized water as compared to Ce-Y doped ZnO NPs and exhibits high photocatalytic activity(degradation rate,97.92%)for methyl orange(MO)degradation.

ZnO Incorporated Acrylamide Grafted Chitosan Based Composite Film for Advanced Wound Healing Applications

This study was carried out to prepare ZnO nanoparticles incorporated acrylamide grafted chitosan composite film for possible biomedical application especially drug loading in wound healing. ZnO nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation method from zinc acetate di-hydrate and incorporated in acrylamide grafted chitosan. FT-IR and TGA of the prepared composite film confirmed the successful incorporation of ZnO nanoparticles in the acrylamide-grafted polymer matrix. SEM images showed that the ZnO nanoparticles were homogeneously distributed on the porous matrix of the composite film. Water uptake and buffer uptake analysis revealed that the composite film could hold water and buffer sufficiently, which facilitated the absorption of exudate from the wound site. Amoxicillin was loaded in the prepared composite film and the maximum loading efficiency was found to be 67.33% with drug concentration of 300 ppm. In vitro studies showed greater antimicrobial activity of drug-loaded composite film compared to both pure film and standard antibiotic disc. Finally, the In vivo mouse model showed maximum healing efficiency compared to conventional gauge bandages because the loading of antibiotic in the film produced a synergistic effect and healing time was reduced.

Structure and Raman scattering of Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared by sol-gel method

Mg-doped ZnO （MgxZn1-xO, x=0-0.10） nanoparticles were prepared by sol-gel method. Structural characterization by X-ray diffraction （XRD） indicates that the lattice parameter a increases and c decreases linearly with the increase in Mg content （x） due to the substitution of Mg2＋ for Zn2＋ in ZnO lattice. The blueshift of Raman modes is observed, impling the increase in force constant of atom vibration in the MgxZn1-xO （MgZnO） nanoparticles. Resonant Raman spectra show longitudinal optical phonon overtones up to fifth order, revealing that the short part of the electron-phonon interaction is enhanced and long-range part is weakened by Mg doping.

Selective Cytotoxic Effect of ZnO Nanoparticles on Glioma Cells

In this study we examined the cytotoxic effect of ZnO nanoparticles on various human cancer and normal cells.We found that the ZnO nanoparticles exerted a cytotoxic effect on the human glioma cell lines A172,U87,LNZ308,LN18,and LN229,whereas no cytotoxic effect was observed on normal human astrocytes.Similarly,the ZnO nanoparticles induced cell death in breast and prostate cancer cell lines while no major effect was observed in the respective normal breast and prostate cell lines.Using the fl uorescent dye 2,7-dichlorofl uorescein diacetate,we found that treatment of the glioma cells with ZnO nanoparticles induced a large increase in the generation of reactive oxygen species(ROS)and treatment of the cells with N-acetyl cysteine decreased the cytotoxic effect of the ZnO nanoparticles.In contrast,a smaller effect on ROS generation was observed in the normal astrocytes.These results suggest that ZnO nanoparticles may be employed as a selective cytotoxic agent for the eradication of cancer cells.

High-performance flexible and broadband photodetectors based on PbS quantum dots/ZnO nanoparticles heterostructure

Flexible and broadband photodetectors have drawn extensive attention due to their potential application in foldable displays, optical communications, environmental monitoring, etc. In this work, a flexible photodetector based on the crystalline PbS quantum dots(QDs)/ZnO nanoparticles(NPs) heterostructure was proposed. The photodetector exhibits a broadband response from ultraviolet-visible(UV-Vis)to near infrared detector(NIR) range with a remarkable current on/off ratio of 7.08×10^3under 375 nm light illumination.Compared with pure ZnO NPs, the heterostructure photodetector shows the three orders of magnitude higher responsivity in Vis and NIR range, and maintains its performance in the UV range simultaneously. The photodetector demonstrates a high responsivity and detectivity of4.54 A W-1and 3.98×10^12Jones. In addition, the flexible photodetectors exhibit excellent durability and stability even after hundreds of times bending. This work paves a promising way for constructing next-generation high-performance flexible and broadband optoelectronic devices.

Surfactant assisted solvothermal synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles and study of their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties

This study demonstrated a solvothermal method of growth of three different morphologies of zinc oxide nanoparticles （ZnO NPs）： i） flower-like nanorod and nanoflakes, ii） assembled hierarchical structure, and iii） nano granule. Oleic acid （C18H3402）, gluconic acid （C6H1207） and tween 80 （C64H124026） were used as surfactant/capping/reducing agent for the formation of different morphologies of nanoparticles. The as-synthesized ZnO NPs were characterized by different physicochemical techniques such as UV-vis （UV-vis） spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FFIR）, field emission scanning electron microscopy （FE-SEM）, energy dispersive X-ray （EDX） analysis and dynamic light scattering （DLS） studies. Further, the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of these nanostructures was evaluated. The antioxidant activity of these nanostructures was assessed via 2,2-diphenyl,1-1 picrylhydrazyl （DPPH）, 2,2＇-azino-bis （3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid） （ABTS） and H202 free radical scavenging activity. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the obtained nanostructures was demonstrated against both gram negative （Escherichia coil） and gram positive （Staphylococcus aureus） bacterial genera. This study revealed antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of different structures ofZnO NPs suggesting their biomedical and industrial applications.

ZnO Nanoparticles as Ethanol Gas Sensors and the Effective Parameters on Their Performance

ZnO nanoparticles are synthesized and applied as ethanol gas sensors. In some cases, the sensitivity and response time of these particles are shown to be higher than that has been reported in the literature. It has been investigated that the most possible reason for this higher gas sensing performance can be attributed to the quantity of the activity coefficient of its initial components. However, other effects such as pH and thermal decomposition are of importance as well. Specific ion interaction （SIT） model is applied to derive the mean activity coefficient values of the additives used in synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles.

Precise control of surface oxygen vacancies in ZnO nanoparticles for extremely high acetone sensing response

ZnO has been studied intensely for chemical sensors due to its high sensitivity and fast response.Here,we present a simple approach to precisely control oxygen vacancy contents to provide significantly enhanced acetone sensing performance of commercial ZnO nanopowders.A combination of H_(2)O_(2)treatment and thermal annealing produces optimal surface defects with oxygen vacancies on the ZnO nanoparticles(NPs).The highest response of~27,562 was achieved for 10 ppm acetone in 0.125 MH_(2)O_(2)treated/annealed ZnO NPs at the optimal working temperature of 400℃,which is significantly higher than that of reported so far in various acetone sensors based on metal oxide semiconductors(MOSs).Furthermore,first-principles calculations indicate that pre-adsorbed O formed on the surface of H_(2)O_(2)treated ZnO NPs can provide favorable adsorption energy,especially for acetone detection,due to strong bidentate bonding between carbonyl C atom of acetone molecules and pre-adsorbed O on the ZnO surface.Our study demonstrates that controlling surface oxygen vacancies by H_(2)O_(2)treatment and re-annealing at optimal temperature is an effective method to improve the sensing properties of commercial MOS materials.