AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Thin Film Division Thursday Sessions
       Session TF+EM+SS-ThA

Invited Paper TF+EM+SS-ThA7
Development of Nanoscale Heterostructures: From Single Component Nanostructures to Multicomponent Nanosystems

Thursday, November 3, 2011, 4:00 pm, Room 110

Session: Applications of Self Assembled Monolayers
Presenter: Nitin Chopra, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
Correspondent: Click to Email
Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and solution synthesis was coupled to realize a unique surfactant-free approach for the direct nucleation of nanoparticles on 1-D nanostructures. Towards this end, skeleton nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes and oxide nanowires were successfully utilized as a selective nucleation sites for nanoparticles. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs)–Ni/NiO nanoparticles and oxide nanowires -(Au or Co3O4) nanoparticles were synthesized. Morphological evolution of nanoparticles as a function of various growth parameters was studied using TEM, SEM, and XRD. New kinds of lattice relationships, interfaces, and morphologies were established. For example, CuO nanowire-Co3O4 nanoparticles showed unique optical characteristics leading to enhanced absorbance in visible light. Growth mechanisms of heterostructures revealed various competing phenomena at nanoscale including thermodynamic stability and chemical potential, and surface migration of nanoparticles on high curvature 1-D nanostructures as opposed to flat surface. These heterostructures also hold great promise as novel sensors and energy technologies.