Facile synthesis and photocatalytic activity of bi-phase dispersible Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles

Nanoscale Research Letters, Apr 2015

Bi-phase dispersible Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles were synthesized by one-pot non-aqueous nanoemulsion with the use of poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEO-PPO-PEO) as the surfactant. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) show high crystallinity of the Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles and an average particle size of ~19.4 nm. The ultraviolet–visible light absorbance spectrometry (UV–vis) and photoluminescence spectrophotometry (PL) demonstrate well dispersibility and excellent optical performance of Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles both in organic and aqueous solvent. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirms Cu1+ and Cu2+ in ZnO. The observation using Sudan red (III) as probe molecule reveals that the Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles possess enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability which are promising for potential applications in photocatalysis.

A PDF file should load here. If you do not see its contents the file may be temporarily unavailable at the journal website or you do not have a PDF plug-in installed and enabled in your browser.

Alternatively, you can download the file locally and open with any standalone PDF reader:

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186%2Fs11671-015-0895-2.pdf

Facile synthesis and photocatalytic activity of bi-phase dispersible Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles

Liu et al. Nanoscale Research Letters Facile synthesis and photocatalytic activity of bi-phase dispersible Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles Xiao Liu 1 HongLing Liu 1 WenXing Zhang 2 XueMei Li 1 Ning Fang 1 XianHong Wang 1 JunHua Wu 0 3 0 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, South University of Science and Technology of China , Shenzhen 518055 , China 1 Key Lab of Polyoxometalate Chemistry of Henan Province, Institute of Molecular and Crystal Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University , Kaifeng 475001 , China 2 Shangqiu Normal University , Shangqiu, HeNan Province 476000 , China 3 Pioneer Research Center for Biomedical Nanocrystals, Korea University , Seoul 136-713 , South Korea Bi-phase dispersible Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles were synthesized by one-pot non-aqueous nanoemulsion with the use of poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEO-PPO-PEO) as the surfactant. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) show high crystallinity of the Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles and an average particle size of ~19.4 nm. The ultraviolet-visible light absorbance spectrometry (UV-vis) and photoluminescence spectrophotometry (PL) demonstrate well dispersibility and excellent optical performance of Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles both in organic and aqueous solvent. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirms Cu1+ and Cu2+ in ZnO. The observation using Sudan red (III) as probe molecule reveals that the Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles possess enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability which are promising for potential applications in photocatalysis. Nanoemulsion; Bi-phase dispersible; Cu-ZnO nanoparticles; Photocatalytic performance - Background Multi-constituent nanomaterials with different compositions and tailorable morphology display multiple functionalities and novel properties, showing prospective potentials in drug delivery, biological detection and sensing, imaging, separation, strong catalysis, magnetic data storage, chemotherapy agent, and many other areas [1-7]. Syntheses of such nanoparticles and investigating their various properties are hence of general interest. ZnO is a widely studied n-type semiconductor, with direct band gap (3.37 eV) and large exciton binding energy of 60 meV, and has promising applications in catalysis, solar cells, gas sensor, and miniaturized sensor [8-11]. However, its applications are somewhat restricted [12]. Doping ZnO with transition metal elements has been confirmed as an effective method to improve its functionality including electrical and optical properties. Among the transition metal elements, Cu is the best choice as impurity for realization of p-type ZnO due to the minimum size mismatch between Zn and Cu which leads to the lowest formation energy [13,14]. After nano-engineering Zn and Cu into a single entity, the nanostructure would not only possess the unique properties of the copper and the semiconductor but also generate collective new property based on the interaction between Cu and ZnO. The photocatalytic performance, magnetic, electrical, and gas-sensing properties of Cu-ZnO have been studied for their potential applications in photocatalysis, spintronics, and gas sensor [15-17]. Up to now, Cu-ZnO has been synthesized by a variety of methods such as electrochemical synthesis, coprecipitation, vapor phase transport method, and hydrothermal method [18-21]. In our research, excellent nanoparticles could be synthesized via one-pot non-aqueous nanoemulsion process aided by poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEO-PPO-PEO). The triblock copolymer PEO-PPO-PEO possesses many distinctive merits, such as non-charging, aqueous solubility, nontoxicity, and biocompatibility, and is widely used in various fields [22-26]. In nanoemulsion process, the PEO-PPOPEO molecules predominantly participate in the reaction as a surfactant, even playing a role in stabilizing the nanoparticles formed and acting as the role of a reducing agent. We have previously generated long-term stable, monosized, highly crystalline Fe3O4-ZnO, Au-ZnO, Ag-ZnO, and hybrid-phase iron oxide nanoparticles [27-30]. In this paper, we report the preparation of polymer-capped Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles using non-toxicity and biocompatible triblock copolymer PEO-PPO-PEO as the surfactant. The characterization demonstrates that the nanoparticles are monosized and of high crystallinity, showing excellent dispersibility and optical performance both in organic and aqueous medium. The photocatalytic behavior of the nanoparticles is evaluated using Sudan red (III) as a probe molecule. The results reveal that the nanostructured Cu-ZnO moieties unveil enhanced photocatalytic performance and stability. Therefore, the assynthesized Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles could be acted as a promising photocatalyst candidate in the degradation of organic pollutants. Methods Cu-ZnO hy (...truncated)


This is a preview of a remote PDF: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186%2Fs11671-015-0895-2.pdf

Xiao Liu, HongLing Liu, WenXing Zhang, XueMei Li, Ning Fang, XianHong Wang, JunHua Wu. Facile synthesis and photocatalytic activity of bi-phase dispersible Cu-ZnO hybrid nanoparticles, Nanoscale Research Letters, 2015, pp. 195, Volume 10, Issue 1, DOI: 10.1186/s11671-015-0895-2