Morphology control of nanoscale PbS particles in a polyol process

Nanostructured PbS with different morphologies and particle sizes have been prepared through a polyol process. Narrow size distribution for star-shaped, octahedral, tetradecanehedral, and cubic products were achieved by slowly introducing the source materials using a peristaltic pump in the presence of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) as additive. Systematic variation of the kinetic factors, including the additive, the reaction temperature, the duration time, the ratio of source materials, the Sulfur sources, and the Pb(Ac)(2)center dot 3H(2)O concentration, reveals that the morphology depends mainly on the supersaturation degree of the free sulfur ions released from thiourea under elevated temperature.

Synthesis and photoluminescent properties of silica-coated LaCeF3 : Tb nanocrystals

La0.45Ce0.45F3:Tb (10 mol% Tb) nanoparticles was synthesized via sonochemical method and then coated with silica (SiO2) shells through a microemulsion process, resulting in the formation of core/shell structured LaCeF3:Tb/SiO2 nanoparticles. The obtained core/shell LaCeF3:Tb/SiO2 nanoparticles are spherical and uniform in size (average size about 60 nm), strongly fluorescent, and long fluorescence lifetime (1.87 ms). This kind of nanoparticles was water-soluble, which could be applied in biological labeling and other fields.

A facile pathway to prepare enzymatically degradable microcapsules with tunable capsule shell properties

Dextran sulfate (DS)/poly-L-lysine (PLL) microcapsules are fabricated by an in situ coacervation method using DS-doped CaCO3 microparticles as templates. Twinned superstructures or spherical CaCO3 microparticles are produced depending on DS concentration in the starting Solution. DS/PLL microcapsules with ellipsoidal or spherical outline are obtained after removal of templates in disodium ethylene diamine tetraacetate dehydrate (EDTA) without PLL. Their shell thickness and negative surface charges increase with the DS weight percentage in the templates. The surface potential of DS/PLL microcapsules.

Improved Melting Strength of Polypropylene by Reactive Compounding With Ultrafine Full-Vulcanized Polybutadiene Rubber (UFBR) Particles

Ultrafine full-vulcanized polybutadiene rubber (UFBR) in particle sizes of ca. 50-100 nm has been used for modifying mechanical and processing performances of polypropylene (PP), and PP-g-maleic anhydride (PP-MA) has been used as a compatibilizer for enhancing the interfacial adhesion between the two components. The results show that PP/UFBR possesses rheological behaviors such as highly branched PP when UFBR content in blends reaches 10 wt%, while in contrast, the much low content of UFBR combining small amount of PP-MA endows the material with rheological characteristics of high melt strength materials like highly branched PP.

Synthesis of mesoporous LaPO4 nanostructures with controllable morphologies

Lanthanum phosphate (LaPO4) nanostructures with different morphologies were prepared by a facile solution-precipitation process. The effect of different reaction conditions on the morphology of nanostructures was studied. When the molar ratio of La3+:H3PO4 was around 1 : 2, 1 : 20, 1 : 100, and 1 : 200, four different morphologies, such as near-spherical, snowflake-like, star-shaped, lens-like nanostructures and short nanorods, were obtained, respectively. Meanwhile, similar shapes developed when the molar ratio of H3PO4 to ionic surfactants, such as SDS and CTAB, was varied. In addition, Eu3+ doped and Ce3+/Tb3+ co-doped LaPO4 nanostructures showed morphology evolution similar to undoped LaPO4 nanostructures. The optical properties of these doped LaPO4 were also characterized.

Preparation and characterization of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)/polyvinylamine core-shell microgels

In this paper, well-defined temperature- and pH-sensitive core-shell microgels were synthesized by graft copolymerization in the absence of surfactant and stabilizer. The microgel particles consisted of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm)) core crosslinked with N, N'-methylene-bisacrylamide (MBA) and polyvinylamine (PVAm) shell. The effect of MBA content and NIPAm/PVAm ratio on microgel size was investigated. SEM showed that the microgels were spherical and had narrow particle-size distribution. TEM images of the microgels clearly displayed well-defined core-shell morphologies. Zeta-potential measurement further elucidated that the microgels possessed positively charged PVAm molecules on the microgel surface. Turbidity measurement and H-1-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments indicated that the VPTT of microgels was the same as the LCST of PNIPAm.

Tunable Luminescence in Monodisperse Zirconia Spheres

In this article, monodisperse spherical zirconia (ZrO2) particles with a narrow size distribution were prepared by the controlled hydrolysis of zirconium butoxide in ethanol, followed by heat treatment in air at low temperature from 300 to 500 degrees C. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL) spectra, kinetic decay, and electron paramagnetic resonance were used to characterize the samples. The experimental results indicate that the annealed ZrO2 samples exhibit broad, intense visible photoluminescence. The annealing temperature is indispensable for the luminescence of the obtained ZrO2 particles. The emission colors of the ZrO2 samples can be tuned from blue to nearly white to dark orange by varying the annealing temperature.

Uniform AMoO(4):Ln (A = Sr2+, Ba2+; Ln = Eu3+, Tb3+) submicron particles: Solvothermal synthesis and luminescent properties

Rare-earth ions (Eu3+, Tb3+) doped AMoO(4) (A = Sr, Ba) particles with uniform morphologies were successfully prepared through a facile solvothermal process using ethylene glycol (EG) as protecting agent. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), photoluminescence (PL) spectra and the kinetic decays were performed to characterize these samples. The XRD results reveal that all the doped samples are of high purity and crystallinity and assigned to the tetragonal scheelite-type structure of the AMoO(4) phase. It has been shown that the as-synthesized SrMoO4:Ln and BaMoO4:Ln samples show respective uniform pea nut-like and oval morphologies with narrowsize distribution. The possible growth process of the AMoO(4):Ln has been investigated in detail. The EG/H2O volume ratio, reaction temperature and time have obvious effect on themorphologies and sizes of the as-synthesized products.

Solvothermal synthesis and luminescent properties of monodisperse LaPO4:Ln (Ln = Eu3+, Ce3+, Tb3+) particles

Monodisperse rare-earth ion (Eu3+, Ce3+, Tb3+) doped LaPO4 particles with oval morphology were successfully prepared through a facile solvothermal process without further hear treatment. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), photoluminescence (PL) spectra and the kinetic decays were performed to characterize these samples. The XRD results reveal that all the doped samples are well crystalline at 180 degrees C and assigned to the monoclinic monazite-type structure of the LaPO4 phase. It has been shown that all the as-synthesized samples show perfectly oval morphology with narrow size distribution. The possible growth mechanism of the LapO(4):Ln has been investigated as well.

Hydrothermal Synthesis and Luminescent Properties of Novel Ordered Sphere CePO4 Hierarchical Architectures

The ordered-sphere CePO4 hierarchical architectures have been successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method through the controlled growth of the CePO4 nanorods and self-assemble hierarchical structure under various reaction conditions. The evolution of the morphology of the samples has been investigated in detail. It was found that the coexistence of citric acid and cetaltrimethylammonium bromide in the reaction system plays an important role in the formation of the spherical CePO4 hierarchical architectures. A possible mechanism of the formation and growth of the hierarchical structure was suggested according to the experimental results and analysis. The effects of the reaction time as well as the variation of the morphologies on the luminescent properties of the products were also studied.

Facile Synthesis and Luminescence Properties of Highly Uniform MF/YVO4:Ln(3+) (Ln = Eu, Dy, and Sm) Composite Microspheres

Uniform MF/YVO4:Ln(3+) (Ln = Eu, Dy, and Sm) composite microspheres have been prepared via a simple and economical wet-chemical route at ambient pressure and low temperature. Monodisperse micrometer-sized melamine formaldehyde (MF) colloidal particles were first fabricated by a condensation process of melamine with formaldehyde. Subsequently, well-dispersed YVO4 nanoparticles were successfully grown onto the MF microspheres to form core-shell structured composite particles in aqueous Solution. The as-obtained composite microspheres with perfect spherical shape are uniform in size and distribution, and the thickness and roughness of the YVO4 shells on MF cores could be tuned by varying the reaction temperature. The MF/YVO4:Ln(3+) composite phosphors show strong light emissions with different colors coming from different activator ions under ultraviolet excitation, which might find potential applications in fields such as light phosphor powders and advanced flat panel displays.

One-pot, high-yield synthesis of size-controlled gold particles with narrow size distribution

Here, we first report a facile one-step one-phase synthetic route to achieve size-controlled gold micro/nanoparticles with narrow size distribution by using o-diaminobenzene as a reducing agent in the presence of poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) via a simple wet-chemical approach. All experimental data including that from scanning-electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction techniques indicates that the gold micro/nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution were produced in high yield (similar to 100%).

Evolution of phase morphology of high impact polypropylene particles upon thermal treatment

Solvent fractionation and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results show that high impact polypropylene (hiPP) produced by a multistage polymerization process consists of PP homopolymer, amorphous ethylene-propylene random copolymer (EPR), and semicrystalline ethylene-propylene copolymer. For the original hiPP particles obtained right after polymerization, direct transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation reveals a fairly homogeneous morphology of the ethylene-propylene copolymer (EP) phase regions inside, while the polyethylene-rich interfacial layer observed between the EP region and the iPP matrix supports that EP copolymers form on the subglobule surface of the original iPP particles. Compared with that in original hiPP particles, the dispersed EP domains in pellets have much smaller average size and relatively uniform size distribution, indicating homogenization of the EP domains in the hiPP by melt-compounding. Upon heat-treatment, phase reorganization occurs in hiPP, and the dispersed EP domains can form a multiple-layered core-shell structure, comprising a polyethylene-rich core, an EPR intermediate layer and an outer shell formed by EP block copolymer, which accounts to some extent for the good toughness-rigidity balance of the material.

Luminescence properties of Y0.9-xGdxEu0.1Al3(BO3)(4) (0 <= x <= 0.9) phosphors prepared by spray pyrolysis process

Starting from metal nitrate aqueous solutions and H3BO3, Y0.9-xGdxEu0.1Al3(BO3)(4) (0 <= x <= 0.9) phosphors were synthesized by spray pyrolysis followed by annealing at high temperature. The obtained phosphor particles have spherical morphology with size in the range 0.5-2 mu m. Independent of the x values in Y0.9-xGdxEu0.1Al3(BO3)(4) (0 <= x <= 0.9) phosphors, the Eu3+ ion shows its characteristic D-5(0), (1)-F-7(J) (J = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4) transitions with D-5(0)-F-7(2) red emission (612 nm) as the most prominent group. The photoluminescence intensity of phosphors increases with the increase of x value in Y0.9-xGdxEu0.1Al3(BO3)(4) (0 <= x <= 0.9) due to an energy migration process like Gd3+-(Gd3+)(n)-Eu3+ that occurred in the host materials.