Precursors nanomaterial

Engineered Nanomaterials as Soluble Precursors for Inorganic Films... 

ENGINEERED NANOMATERIALS AS SOLUBLE PRECURSORS FOR INORGANIC FILMS... 

The next three chapters (Chapters 9-11) focus on the deposition of nano-structured or microstructured films and entities. Porous oxide thin films are, for example, of great interest due to potential application of these films as low-K dielectrics and in sensors, selective membranes, and photovoltaic applications. One of the key challenges in this area is the problem of controlling, ordering, and combining pore structure over different length scales. Chapter 9 provides an introduction and discussion of evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA), a method that combines sol-gel synthesis with self-assembly and phase separation to produce films with a tailored pore structure. Chapter 10 describes how nanomaterials can be used as soluble precursors for the preparation of extended... 

The Stober method can be used to form core-shell silica nanoparticles when a presynthesized core is suspended in a water-alcohol mixture. The core can be a silica nanoparticle or other types of nanomaterials [46, 47]. If the core is a silica nanoparticle, before adding silicon alkoxide precursors, the hydroxysilicates hydrolyzed from precursors condense by the hydroxide groups on the surface of the silica cores to form additional layers. If the core is a colloid, surface modification of the core might be necessary. For example, a gold colloid core was modified by poly (vinylpyrrolidone) prior to a silica layer coating [46]. 

Cumberland SL, Hanif KM, et al (2002) Inorganic clusters as single-source precursors for preparation of CdSe, ZnSe, and CdSe/ZnS nanomaterials. Chemistry of Materials 14(4), 1576-1584... 

Nanomaterials are also prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or chemical vapor condensation (CVC). In these processes, a chemical precursor is converted to the gas phase and then it undergoes decomposition to generate the nanoparticles. These products are then subjected to transport in a carrier gas and collected on a cold substrate, from where they are scraped and collected. The CVC method may be used to produce a variety of powders and fibers of metals, compounds, or composites. The CVD method has been employed to synthesize several ceramic metals, intermetallics, and composite materials. 

At first, however, this review will provide the reader with a critical overview over the most commonly used nanomaterials. The emphasis here will be particularly on those aspects of their synthesis, manipulation, and characterization that are of significant importance for their use as dopants in liquid crystalline phases or as precursors for the formation of liquid crystalline superstructures including size and size-distribution, shape, chemical purity, post-synthesis surface modifications, stability of capping monolayers, and overall thermal as well as chemical stability. 

Prominent exceptions are studies on the liquid crystal phase formation and self-assembly of two-dimensional disc- or sheet-like nanomaterials such as the organization of nanodiscs or nanoplatelets into nematic, smectic, or columnar morphologies [263-270] (see Fig. 2 for an example of the self-assembly of nanoclay in aqueous suspensions) or the synthesis of CuCl nanoplatelets from ionic liquid crystal precursors as described by Taubert and co-workers [271-273]. 

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