Issue 17, 2015

Control over Fe3+ speciation in colloidal ZnO nanocrystals

Abstract

The incorporation of potentially redox active dopant ions holds much promise for applications in catalysis and energy. Here we report the room-temperature synthesis of colloidal Fe-doped ZnO nanocrystals. By combining detailed dopant-specific spectroscopy with known single crystal data we are able to elucidate the locations of paramagnetic Fe3+ ions in the colloidal ZnO nanocrystals. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of 0.15–2.0% Fe-doped ZnO nanocrystals are consistent with the Fe dopants occupying both pseudo-tetrahedral (substitutional at the Zn-site) and pseudo-octahedral (surface and interstitial) coordination environments. The evolution of the spectra as a function of ZnO growth time allow us to provide additional mechanistic insight into the formation of doped colloidal ZnO nanocrystals using a simple room temperature synthetic method. We also demonstrate control over the speciation of the Fe dopants in colloidal ZnO nanocrystals by changing the growth and/or surface-ligand treatment times.

Graphical abstract: Control over Fe3+ speciation in colloidal ZnO nanocrystals

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 Feb 2015
Accepted
16 Mar 2015
First published
20 Mar 2015

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015,3, 4352-4358

Control over Fe3+ speciation in colloidal ZnO nanocrystals

D. Zhou and K. R. Kittilstved, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015, 3, 4352 DOI: 10.1039/C5TC00470E

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