Synthesis of Al doped ZnO nanoparticles by aqueous coprecipitation

Fabien Giovannelli (1) , Alphonsine Ngo Ndimba (1) , Pablo Diaz-Chao (2) , Mikael Motelica-Heino (3) , P.I. Raynal (4, 5) , Cecile Autret (1) , Fabian Delorme (1)

1 GREMAN - UMR 7347 - GREMAN (matériaux, microélectronique, acoustique et nanotechnologies)
2 CRISMAT - Laboratoire de cristallographie et sciences des matériaux
3 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans - UMR7327
4 Université Francois Rabelais [Tours]
5 CHRU Tours - Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Tours

Al-doped ZnO particles were obtained by a simple route: soda addition in aqueous cationic solution. The effects of temperature, hydrolysis duration, reagent concentration and time were investigated. A non-topotactic reaction mechanism, involving firstly the precipitation of various hydroxide compounds depending on the route (low or high pH), followed by the dissolution-recrystallization of the hydroxide species into ZnO was demonstrated. The Al concentration in the final ZnO nanopowders did not exceed 0.3 at.% which correspond to the solubility limit of Al in ZnO. The different experimental conditions allow the morphology of ZnO particles to be controlled from isotropic nanoparticles of several tens of nanometers, platelets of several hundreds of nanometers or agglomerates of needle like particles.

Keywords: Nanoparticles; ZnO; Precipitation

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Continental interfaces, environment; Environmental Sciences; Global Changes

Fabien Giovannelli, Alphonsine Ngo Ndimba, Pablo Diaz-Chao, Mikael Motelica-Heino, P.I. Raynal, et al.. Synthesis of Al doped ZnO nanoparticles by aqueous coprecipitation. Powder Technology, 2014, 262, pp.203-208. ⟨10.1016/j.powtec.2014.04.065⟩. ⟨insu-00990801⟩