Structures and optical properties of zinc oxide nanoclusters: a combined experimental and theoretical approach

CONTEXT

In this study, theoretical and experimental analysis of the electrical, optical, and structural properties of a wurtzite-like zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructure has been done. To investigate how quantum confinement affects the optical characteristics, two distinct ZnO clusters in nanowire structures have been investigated. The [(ZnO)₅₅(H₂O)₄] system's HOMO-LUMO band gap (BG) was calculated to be 2.99 eV, which is quite close to the experimental measurement. It was found that the BG decreases with the increase in the number of atoms in the cluster in connection with the quantum confinement in nanoclusters. In addition, the lowest excitation energy in TD-DFT calculations of the identical system is in fairly good agreement with the experimental value with a difference of 0.1 eV. We conclude that the CAM-B3LYP functional has highly successful in reproducing the experimental data reported in the present study and previously reported experimental data.

METHODS

The geometrical optimization of two different sizes of ZnO clusters ([(ZnO)25(H2O)4] and [ZnO)55(H2O)4]) was performed using the CAM-B3LYP functional with no symmetry constraints applied in the gas phase. LANL2DZ basis sets were used for the Zinc (Zn) atom and 6-31G* basis sets for the O and H atoms. To determine their optical and electronic properties, excited state calculations of the pre-optimized structures were performed using the Time-Dependent DFT (TD-DFT) method. Multiwfn, Gaussum 3.0, and GaussView 5.0 programs were used to visualize the results.

Effect of Ligand Adsorption on the Electronic Properties of the PbS(100) Surface

A first-principles density functional theory calculation was carried out to study the adsorption of acetic acid, methyl amine, methanethiol, and hydrogen iodide on the (100) surface of PbS. All four ligands are common capping agents used in colloidal PbS quantum dot-based photovoltaics. Interestingly, among the considered adsorbates, dissociative adsorption was energetically preferred for hydrogen iodide, while associative adsorption was favorable for the rest. Associative adsorption was driven by strong interactions between the electronegative elements (Y) in the respective ligands and the Pb surface atoms via Pb 6p-Y np bond hybridization (n represents the valence quantum number of the respective electronegative elements). Importantly, the adsorption of ligands altered the work function of PbS, with contrasting trends for associative (decrease in the work function) versus dissociative (increase in the work function) adsorption. The changes in the work function correlates well with a corresponding shift in the 5d level of surface Pb atoms. Other important observations include variations in the work function that linearly change with increasing the surface coverage of adsorbed ligands as well as with the strength of the adsorption of ligands.

Influence of Tail Groups during Functionalization of ZnO Nanoparticles on Binding Enthalpies and Photoluminescence

We report on the tailoring of ZnO nanoparticle (NP) surfaces by catechol derivatives (CAT) with different functionalities: tert-butyl group (tertCAT), hydrogen (pyroCAT), aromatic ring (naphCAT), ester group (esterCAT), and nitro group (nitroCAT). The influence of electron-donating/-withdrawing properties on enthalpy of ligand binding (ΔH) was resolved and subsequently linked with optical properties. First, as confirmed by ultraviolet/visible (UV/vis) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy results, all CAT molecules chemisorbed to ZnO NPs, independent of the distinct functionality. Interestingly, the ζ-potentials of ZnO after functionalization shifted to more negative values. Then, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and a mass-based method were applied to resolve the heat release during ligand binding and the adsorption isotherm, respectively. However, both heat- and mass-based approaches alone did not fully resolve the binding enthalpy of each molecule adsorbing to the ZnO surface. This is mainly due to the fact that the Langmuir model oversimplifies the underlying adsorption mechanism, at least for some of the tested CAT molecules. Therefore, a new, fitting-free approach was developed to directly access the adsorption enthalpy per molecule during functionalization by dividing the heat release measured via ITC by the amount of bound molecules determined from the adsorption isotherm. Finally, the efficiency of quenching the visible emission caused by ligand binding was investigated by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, which turned out to follow the same trend as the binding enthalpy. Thus, the functionality of ligand molecules governs the binding enthalpy to the particle surface, which in turn, at least in the current case of ZnO, is an important parameter for the quenching of visible emission. We believe that establishing such correlations is an important step toward a more general way of selecting and designing ligand molecules for surface functionalization. This allows developing strategies for tailored colloidal surfaces beyond empirically driven formulation on a case by case basis.

Ligand-Stabilized ZnO Quantum Dots: Molecular Dynamics and Experimental Study

Different aminoalcohol ligands, monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA) were employed to passivate the surface of ZnO quantum dots (ZnO QDs). High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) imaging revealed that the higher branched aminoalcohols produced smaller sized ZnO QDs. The average size for ZnO/MEA, ZnO/DEA, and ZnO/TEA were found to be 3.2, 2.9, and 2.4 nm. TEA ligands were effective in producing stable, monodisperse ZnO QDs compared with DEA and MEA ligands. Molecular dynamics and semi-empirical calculations suggested that TEA and DEA ligands interact strongly with the partial charge of ZnO dangling bonds and have a large molar volume to hinder the diffusion of precursors through the ligands to the surface of ZnO resulting in a smaller particle size as compared with MEA ligands. As the size of ZnO QDs decreases from ZnO/MEA to ZnO/TEA, the absorption edge and emission peak maximum blue-shifts to a shorter wavelength due to the quantum size effect. The bandgap of ZnO/MEA, ZnO/DEA, and ZnO/TEA was determined to be 3.97, 4.07, and 4.23 eV, and the emission peak was found to be 472, 464, and 458 nm when excited using a 325 nm excitation wavelength, respectively.

Structural diversity of five new bitriazole-based complexes: luminescence, sorption, and magnetic properties

Employing a new bitriazole ligand, five complexes were assembled that display diverse structures, selective CO₂/CH₄ adsorption, luminescent sensing, and antiferromagnetic properties.