Large-scale preparation of porous ultrathin Ga-doped ZnO nanoneedles from 3D basic zinccarbonate superstructures

Abstract

A facile procedure for large-scale preparation of porous ZnO 1D nanomaterials with goodelectrical conductivity has been demonstrated for the first time. Porous ultrathin Ga-dopedZnO nanoneedles can be prepared by calcining the precursor of ultrathin Ga-doped basiczinc carbonate (BZC) nanoneedles obtained from BZC 3D superstructures, which aresynthesized by a simple chemical co-precipitation method at room temperature, withoutusing any catalyst, template or surfactant. There is evidence that the growth mechanismsof the BZC 3D superstructures and nanoneedles are correlated with the concentrations ofammonium ions and ethanol in the synthesis solution. The as-prepared porousGa-doped ZnO nanoneedles have a thickness of only a couple of nanometers,consisting of many fine nanoparticles in a few nanometers. Electrical conductivitymeasurements indicate that porous ultrathin ZnO nanoneedles have a volumeresistivity similar to that of the spherical Ga-doped ZnO nanoparticles. The porousnanostructures and good electrical conductivity make the porous ultrathin ZnO1D nanoneedles promising candidates for applications in electrochemical fields.