Wojewódzka Anna, Wolska-Pietkiewicz Małgorzata, Szczepanowski Roman H, Jędrzejewska Maria, Zelga Karolina, Lewiński Janusz
Faculty of Chemistry, Warsaw University of Technology Noakowskiego 3 00-664 Warsaw Poland
International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology Ks. Trojdena Street 4 02-109 Warsaw Poland.
Nanoscale Adv. 2025 Mar 12;7(9):2677-2685. doi: 10.1039/d4na00933a. eCollection 2025 Apr 29.
The study of factors controlling nanocrystal (NC) growth is essential for uncovering and understanding nanomaterial formation, which typically involves a complex sequence of precursor reactions, nucleation, and growth processes. Herein, as part of the continuous development of the self-supporting organometallic approach for the preparation of quantum-sized colloidal zinc oxide (ZnO) NCs, we selected a series of [EtZn(X)]-type carboxylate precursors, where X = methoxyacetate, 2-(2-methoxyethoxy)acetate, or 2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]acetate, as model self-supporting systems with varying carboxylate tail lengths. The controlled exposure of a [EtZn(X)]-type precursor solution to air afforded colloidal ZnO NCs with a narrow unimodal size distribution and coated with strongly anchored X-type ligands. Employing optical spectroscopy techniques, we investigate how the growth dynamics of NCs depend on the length of the carboxylate tail. Moreover, leveraging analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC), we meticulously examined the behavior of NCs in solution under centrifugal forces to gain valuable insights into their stability and aggregation tendencies. This study not only enhances understanding of the underlying 'living growth' of organometallic-derived nanostructures that leads to the formation of thermodynamically stable and monodispersed ZnO NCs but also significantly contributes to the ongoing development of more effective methods for synthesizing colloidal ZnO NCs, thereby advancing the field of materials science.
研究控制纳米晶体（NC）生长的因素对于揭示和理解纳米材料的形成至关重要，纳米材料的形成通常涉及前驱体反应、成核和生长过程等一系列复杂过程。在此，作为制备量子尺寸胶体氧化锌（ZnO）纳米晶体的自支撑有机金属方法持续发展的一部分，我们选择了一系列[EtZn(X)]型羧酸盐前驱体，其中X = 甲氧基乙酸盐、2-(2-甲氧基乙氧基)乙酸盐或2-[2-(2-甲氧基乙氧基)乙氧基]乙酸盐，作为具有不同羧酸盐尾长的自支撑模型体系。将[EtZn(X)]型前驱体溶液可控地暴露于空气中，得到了具有窄单峰尺寸分布且包覆有强锚定X型配体的胶体ZnO纳米晶体。我们采用光谱技术研究了纳米晶体的生长动力学如何依赖于羧酸盐尾长。此外，利用分析超速离心（AUC），我们仔细研究了纳米晶体在离心力作用下在溶液中的行为，以深入了解它们的稳定性和聚集趋势。这项研究不仅增进了对导致形成热力学稳定且单分散的ZnO纳米晶体的有机金属衍生纳米结构潜在“活性生长”的理解，还显著有助于持续开发更有效的合成胶体ZnO纳米晶体的方法，从而推动材料科学领域的发展。
