MgZnO Nanocrystals: Mechanism for Dopant-Stimulated Self-Assembly

Xiaoming Li; Yanli Liu; Jizhong Song; Jiayue Xu; Haibo Zeng

doi:10.1002/smll.201501550

MgZnO Nanocrystals: Mechanism for Dopant-Stimulated Self-Assembly

Small. 2015 Oct;11(38):5097-104. doi: 10.1002/smll.201501550. Epub 2015 Aug 3.

Authors

Xiaoming Li^{1

2}, Yanli Liu¹, Jizhong Song², Jiayue Xu³, Haibo Zeng²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures, College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China.
² Institute of Optoelectronics & Nanomaterials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China.
³ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai, 201418, China.

PMID: 26237680
DOI: 10.1002/smll.201501550

Abstract

Understanding the growth behavior of nanocrystals (NCs), especially when heteroatoms are introduced, is very important for the optimization of doping (or alloying) and optoelectronic performances. Here, it is reported on the observation of alloying-facilitated self-assembly of MgZnO NCs and the underlying mechanism of alloying concentration-dependent surface grafting. Using the developed one-pot thermolysis of Zn and Mg organic salts with the help of oleylamine (OAm) and oleic acid (OA), the Mg ions can be introduced into the ZnO lattice without phase separation with concentrations as high as 20%. Interestingly, with the increase of Mg alloying concentration, the morphologies of the products transform from monodispersed NCs to nanoflowers, and then nanobouquet superstructures, which have quasi-monocrystal features and obey the oriented attachment rules. According to the analyses of surface functional groups, a mechanism involving concentration-dependent surface grafting is proposed for such alloying-facilitated self-assembly.

Keywords: MgZnO nanocrystals; alloying concentration; grafting density; self-assembly.