Guolong Tan

Synthesis and optical characterization of CdTe nanocrystals prepared by ball milling process

Abstract CdTe nanocrystals have been successfully synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA) process. XRD pattern and HRTEM images confirmed the formation of cubic structural CdTe Nan crystals (2–40 nm). The capped CdTe nanocrystals show absorption peaks locating within the visible range of 500–700 nm, when uncapped ones locating within ultraviolet range.

Shape and internal structure of silver nanoparticles embedded in glass

The structural characteristics of silver nanoparticles embedded in glass by various routes of fabrication were studied in detail using high-resolution electron microscopy to find out if they are influenced by interaction with the surrounding glass matrix. Besides the formation conditions, the strength of the interaction between metal and glass governs the size-dependent changes of lattice spacings in such nanoparticles. However, determination of these changes is not straightforward because of complicated particle configurations and the interference nature of the lattice imaging technique. Imaging of lattice plane fringes and careful diffractogram analysis allowed the exclusion of any kind of tetragonal lattice distortion or transformation to hexagonal lattice type that may be deduced at first sight. Instead, the formation of twin faults in these nanoparticles turned out to be the essential structural feature and the main source of confusion about the lattice structure observed. The variety of particle forms is comparable to particles supported on oxide carriers. It is composed of single-crystalline particles of nearly cuboctahedron shape, particles containing single twin faults, multiple twinned particles containing parallel twin lamellae, and multiple twinned particles composed of cyclic twinned segments arranged around axes of 5-fold symmetry. The more twin planes involved in the particle composition, the more complicated is the interpretation of lattice spacings and lattice fringe patterns due to superposition of several twin segments.

Dual-emitting nanocomposites derived from rare-earth compound nanotubes for ratiometric fluorescence sensing applications

A new class of ratiometric fluorescence sensors composed of rare-earth (RE) compound nanotubes is described. Polyethylenimine-coated yttrium hydroxide fluoride nanotubes (YHF NTs) that were synthesized hydrothermally exhibit highly efficient fluorescence when doped with RE ions. The polyethylenimine on the NTs facilitates the incorporation of phosphors such as quantum dots or organic dyes onto the NT surface to produce dual-emitting nanocomposites which are excellent ratiometric fluorescence sensors. The phosphor layer and underlying tubes in the nanocomposites act as the indicator and reference probes, respectively. This ratiometric fluorescence method which can be applied to the detection of heavy metals in solutions, temperature sensing, and pH sensing boasts high sensitivity and selectivity as well as better accuracy than traditional intensity-based fluorescence methods.

Synthesis of nanocrystalline cubic substoichiometric WC1 − z powders by mechanochemical technology

Nanocrystalline cubic substoichiometric WC1 − z powders were synthesized by a mechanochemical method at room temperature, a process of highly reactive energetic ball milling of WO3 + 3Mg mixtures containing excessive graphite as a source of carbon for W phase. The excessive graphite plays a very important role in the formation of cubic phase, otherwise the h.c.p. phase is formed. The entropy evaluation shows that the reduction reaction is a self-propagating process. After millimg for 90 hours and excluding MgO from the product by using HCl solution, the cubic substoichiometric WC1 − z powders containing a little excessive graphite with the grain size in the range of 4 to 20 nm were obtained.

Preparation of uncapped CdSe1−xSx semiconducting nanocrystals by mechanical alloying

Composition-tunable ternary CdSe1−xSx nanocrystals are among the most extensively studied alloyed semiconducting quantum dots. They are, however, almost exclusively prepared by wet chemical routes which lead to surface-capped nanoparticles. Herein, we show that simple mechanical alloying can be applied to prepare uncapped CdSe1−xSx nanocrystals through the entire composition range. The resulting nanocrystals have average sizes smaller than 9 nm, are chemically homogenous, and show a linear lattice parameter-composition and close-to-linear band gap-composition relationships, demonstrating the ability for band gap engineering through composition tuning.

Z-scan and four-wave mixing characterization of semiconductor cadmium chalcogenide nanomaterials

The possible physical origin of third-order nonlinearity of cadmium chalcogenide (Te, Se, and S) semiconductor nanocrystals were discussed based on the results of both Z-scan and degenerate four-wave mixing spectroscopies at 532, 775, 800, and 1064 nm in nanosecond, picosecond, and femtosecond time scale for nonlinear photonic applications.

Mid-IR band gap engineering of CdxPb1−xS nanocrystals by mechanochemical reaction

Composition-tunable ternary Cdx Pb 1−xS nanocrystals (NCs) are very important materials for remote sensing and detecting in the infrared (IR) wavelength region. They are, however, almost exclusively prepared by wet chemical routes which lead to surface-capped nanoparticles. The surface capping molecules could move their absorption peaks from mid-IR to near IR wavelength region. However, surface clean Cdx Pb 1−xS nanocrystals (NCs) would demonstrate intrinsic optical spectrum in the mid-IR region. Herein, we present a physical mechanical alloying (MA) process being applied to prepare tens of grams of surface clean Cdx Pb 1−xS nanocrystals within the composition range of x = 0.0 to 0.4. The average particle size is smaller than 9 nm. The as-milled nanocrystals are chemically homogenous. The Cdx Pb 1−xS nanocrystals show a continuous lattice contraction with Cd content. There is an exponential indirect band gap-composition relationship. This MA method shows the ability to continuously and precisely tune the band gap energies of ternary Cdx Pb 1−xS semiconductor nanocrystals from mid-IR region (2638 nm) to NIR wavelength region (1240 nm) through chemical composition.

Magnetoelectric Response in Multiferroic SrFe12O19 Ceramics

We report here realization of ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism and magnetocapacitance effect in singleSrFe12O19ceramic at room temperature. The ceramics demonstrate a saturated polarization hysteresis loop, two nonlinear I-V peaks and large anomaly of dielectric constant near Curie temperature, which confirm the intrinsic ferroelectricity of SrFe12O19 ceramicswith subsequent heat-treatment in O2atmosphere. The remnant polarization of the SrFe12O19 ceramic is estimated to be 103μC/cm2. The ceramic also exhibits strong ferromagnetic characterization, the coercive field and remnant magnetic moment are 6192Oe and 35.8emu/g, respectively. Subsequent annealing SrFe12O19 ceramics in O2 plays a key role on revealing its intrinsic ferroelectricity and improving the ferromagnetism through transforming Fe2+ into Fe3+. By applying a magnetic field, the capacitance demonstrates remarkable change along with B field, the maximum rate of change in ε (Δε(B)/ε(0)) is 1174%, which reflects a giant magnetocapacitance effect in SrFe12O19. XPS and molecular magnetic moment measurements confirmed the transformation of Fe2+ into Fe3+ and removal of oxygen vacancies upon O2 heat treatment. These combined functional responses in SrFe12O19 ceramics opens substantial possibilities for applications in novel electric devices.

Preparation of ternary Cd1−xZnxS nanocrystals with tunable ultraviolet absorption by mechanical alloying

Composition-tunable ternary Cd1−xZnxS nanocrystals are among the most extensively studied alloyed semiconductor nanocrystals. However, they are almost exclusively prepared by wet chemical routes, which lead to surface-capped nanoparticles. Herein, we present a simple mechanical alloying process to prepare uncapped Zn1−xCdxS nanocrystals throughout the entire composition range. The resulting nanocrystals have average sizes smaller than 9 nm, are chemically homogenous, and exhibit linear lattice parameter-composition and close-to-linear band-gap-composition relationships. Continuous lattice contraction of the Cd1−xZnxS nanocrystals with the atomic Zn concentration results in a successional enlargement of their band gap energies expanding from the visible region to the ultraviolet (UV) region, demonstrating the ability for precise control of band gap engineering through composition tuning and mechanical alloying.

Facile Synthesis and Optical Properties of Small Selenium Nanocrystals and Nanorods

Selenium is an important element for human’s health, small size is very helpful for Se nanoparticles to be absorbed by humans body. Here, we present a facile approach to fabrication of small selenium nanoparticles (Nano-Se) as well as nanorods by dissolving sodium selenite (Na2SeO3) in glycerin and using glucose as the reduction agent. The as-prepared selenium nanoparticles have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). The morphology of small Se nanoparticles and nanorods have been demonstrated in the TEM images. A small amount of 3-mercaptoproprionic acid (MPA) and glycerin play a key role on controlling the particle size and stabilize the dispersion of Nano-Se in the glycerin solution. In this way, we obtained very small and uniform Se nanoparticles; whose size ranges from 2 to 6 nm. This dimension is much smaller than the best value (>20 nm) ever reported in the literatures. Strong quantum confinement effect has been observed upon the size-dependent optical spectrum of these Se nanoparticles.