Novel green synthesis and improved solar-blind detection performance of hierarchical γ-Ga2O3 nanospheres

Abstract

High-quality γ-Ga₂O₃ nanospheres (diameter, 130 nm) were successfully synthesized by direct conversion of a precursor complex of Ga³⁺ ions and tartrate ions (L²⁻) in water. The addition of even a small amount of L²⁻ ions can efficiently suppress the hydrolysis of Ga³⁺ ions to GaOOH. This synthetic method is new and has great advantages of simplicity, organic solvent-free processing and high efficiency. The γ-Ga₂O₃ nanospheres which consist of primary nanoparticles with a diameter of about 10 nm show an extremely high specific surface area (83.7 m² g⁻¹), thereby possessing improved solar-blind detection performance (e.g., light current, 1.83 μA; light–dark ratio, 2.29 × 10³ and photocurrent fluctuation, <0.5%) relative to reported results elsewhere.