Poly(zinc dimethacrylate) as a precursor in the low-temperature formation of ZnO nanoparticles

Gabriela Ambrožič; Srečo D Škapin; Majda Žigon; Zorica Crnjak Orel

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2011.05.025

Poly(zinc dimethacrylate) as a precursor in the low-temperature formation of ZnO nanoparticles

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2011 Aug 15;360(2):370-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2011.05.025. Epub 2011 May 15.

Authors

Gabriela Ambrožič¹, Srečo D Škapin, Majda Žigon, Zorica Crnjak Orel

Affiliation

¹ National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.

PMID: 21640357
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2011.05.025

Abstract

We present a simple, low-temperature synthesis of pure ZnO nanoparticles and polymer-ZnO hybrid materials formed by the NaOH-mediated conversion of poly(zinc dimethacrylate) in 1-butanol. The polymer poly(zinc dimethacrylate) was used as a precursor to prepare neat ZnO particles. It has a double role in the ZnO formation process, acting as a template and simultaneously controlling the crystal growth. The obtained single-crystalline ZnO nanorods show a low tendency to aggregate. The reaction mechanism of ZnO formation was proposed on the basis of a model system of the base-mediated conversion of a monomer zinc dimethacrylate Zn(MA)(2).