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.