Synthesis, Characterization and Surface Modification of Titanium and Zinc Oxide Nanostructures for Nanotoxicity, Visible Light Emission and Photocatalytic Studies

Fabrication of ZnO QDs for visible light emission applications, surface modulation for stability in dispersions and defect control at the surface is vitally important. Therefore long alkyl chain group (e.g. oleate) and biological molecule cysteine were used together with sol-gel chemistry as vectors to regulate reactivity of the ZnO QDs and their visible light emission. Additionally, using different ligand concentrations and reaction conditions, semiconductor nanostructures of unusual geometrical shapes were synthesized and characterized. Hexagonal crystal growing habit of ZnO provided unusual geometrically distorted examples of the same geometry that have not been reported so far in the literature. Furthermore, TiO2 nanostructures with significant absorption in visible range of the solar spectrum were obtained by hot injection method and rapid injection and decomposition of Ti-precursor and amine enabled to produce self assembled ball like and multibranched structures with remarkable visible range absorption.