Polymer nanofiber‐templated fabrication and characterization of gallium oxide nanofibers consisting of granular nanoparticles

Abstract

AbstractGallium oxide (β‐Ga2O3) is an interesting semiconductor that has a wide bandgap and can be used as an optoelectronic material in flat‐panel displays, solar energy conversion devices and optical limiters for UV light. However, it is difficult to fabricate and process Ga2O3 nanofibers for actual optoelectronic applications. When the excellent processability of polymeric materials is introduced into the inorganic nanofiber fabrication process, this limitation can be easily overcome. The aim of the research reported was to prepare granular Ga2O3 nanofibers utilizing an electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofiber template combined with sol‐gel technology. Ga2O3 nanofibers were successfully fabricated by electrospinning a solution of polyacrylonitrile mixed with gallium nitrate and subsequent calcination. The surface and bulk morphologies of the calcined nanofibers investigated using field‐emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that Ga2O3 nanofibers were constructed by the fusion of gallium oxide nanoparticles. TEM bright‐field images combined with selected‐area electron diffraction indicated that the average diameter of the Ga2O3 nanofibers produced was ca 55 nm and the crystalline structure was β‐Ga2O3 with a monoclinic unit cell. Furthermore, the photoluminescence spectrum of the Ga2O3 nanofibers exhibited two strong green emission peaks and one UV emission peak. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry