Studies focused on how synthesis conditions (precursor volume, solvent, substrate temperature, doping, annealing) shape the structure, morphology, and optical or electrical properties of a material, independent of a specific end-use device.
Substrate temperature and annealing steer spray-pyrolysis copper oxide films toward the tenorite (CuO) phase over cuprite (Cu2O), with 623 K giving the best crystallinity.
HMTA plays a dual capping role in ZnO growth, steering crystal shape between nanoprisms and nanodisks, with the nanoparticle-decorated nanoprisms giving the best acetaldehyde selectivity.
Pure and manganese-doped ZnO thin films are synthesized by sol-gel dip coating to characterize how manganese doping affects their structure and properties.
A gold nanoparticle's surface charge, more than its size, governs whether it aggregates inside a hydrogel: negatively charged particles aggregate while positively charged ones stay dispersed.
Increasing the spray-pyrolysis precursor volume from 15 to 45 mL thickens ZnO films from 225 to 781 nm and raises conductivity, with the thicker film's open structure favoring gas sensing.
Hydrothermal, solution-combustion, and microwave heating each shape V2O5 into a distinct nanostructure, with the solution-combustion nanoflowers giving the most selective ethanol response.
A one-pot, chemical-free laser-ablation route sequentially builds ZnO@graphene-oxide core-shell nanoparticles in water, with longer graphite ablation producing thicker GO shells.
Switching the spray-pyrolysis precursor solvent between water and ethanol tunes ZnO film thickness from 875 down to 150 nm, producing a distinctive water-hyacinth nanostructure along the way.
Laser pulse duration controls the size and oxide-shell chemistry of tin nanoparticles made by ablating a tin target in water, with the resulting core-shell particles able to sense ethanol vapor.
Pure and iron-doped ZnO thin films are grown by sol-gel dip coating, a low-temperature alternative to spray pyrolysis, to study how iron doping shapes the resulting nanostructure.
