Synthesis and Characterization of Organic–Inorganic Hybrid GeOx/Ethylenediamine Nanowires

Abstract

The promising research on organic–inorganic hybrid materials (including their synthesis, characterization, and modification) has attracted extensive interest because of their unique properties and potential applications in various fields including catalysis, sensing technology, optoelectronics, and electromagnetics. In the past decade, several kinds of organic–inorganic hybrid particles of micrometer size have been synthesized, such as MQ(L)x (M1⁄4Mn, Zn, Cd; Q1⁄4 S, Se, Te; L1⁄4monoor diamine or hydrazine; x1⁄4 0.5 or 1.0). They were believed to combine the superior features of both inorganic frameworks and organic components, thus improving their functionality and performance. Significantly, the sub-nanometer-scale periodic structures in these hybrid materials led to strong quantum confinement effects (QCEs), which are important for achieving suitable bandgaps in order to design functional devices. In addition,1D nanostructures have become a highlight in materials science and recently remarkable progress has been achieved for the preparation of 1D organic–inorganic hybrid nanocrystals, e. g., ZnS/N2H4, [5a] ZnS/cyclohexylamine, WO2.72(N6C123H136O22)0.04, [5c,5d] ZnS/n-butylamine nanowires, and ZnSe(diethylenetriamine)0.5 nanobelts. [5f] Besides the prominent properties of 1D nanostructures, the strong QCEs resulting from the sub-nanometer dimensions could tune the electronic and optical properties. Therefore, the preparation of subnanometer-scale periodic organic–inorganic hybrid structures that can be integrated with 1D nanocrystals will undoubtedly lead to 1D nanomaterials that can be applied as functional segments or building blocks in various nanodevices. 1D GeO2 nanomaterials are considered as potentially important functional components and interconnections in future optoelectronic nanodevices, because GeO2 nanocrystals are blue photoluminescence materials and GeO2based glass is thought to be more refractive than its corresponding silicate. A series of functional materials