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Periodically ordered nanoscale islands and mesoporous films composed of nanocrystalline multimetallic oxides.
- Source :
- Nature Materials; Nov2004, Vol. 3 Issue 11, p787-792, 6p, 1 Black and White Photograph, 1 Diagram, 1 Chart, 2 Graphs
- Publication Year :
- 2004
-
Abstract
- Innovative strategies to produce well-defined nanoparticles and other nanostructures such as nanofibres, quantum wells and mesoporous materials have revitalized materials science for the potential benefit to society. Here, we report a controlled process, involving soft-chemistry-based deposition, template-assisted mesostructured growth, and tuned annealing conditions that allows the preparation of ordered mesoporous crystalline networks and mesostructured nano-island single layers, composed of multicationic metal oxides having perovskite, tetragonal or ilmenite structures. This strategy to obtain meso-organized multi-metal-oxide nanocrystalline films (M<subscript>3</subscript>NF) bridges the gap between conventional mesoporous materials and the remarkable properties of crystalline ternary or quaternary metallic oxides. Nanocrystalline mesoporous films with controlled wall thickness (10–20 nm) of dielectric SrTiO<subscript>3</subscript>, photoactive MgTa<subscript>2</subscript>O<subscript>6</subscript> or ferromagnetic semi-conducting Co<subscript>x</subscript>Ti<subscript>1−x</subscript>O<subscript>2−x</subscript> were prepared by evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) using a specially designed non-ionic block-copolymer template. A tuned thermal treatment of the mesoporous films permits the transfer of the wall structure into nanocrystallites, with all tectonic units being tightly incorporated into mechanically stable ordered tri- or bidimensional nanocrystalline networks. This methodology should allow multifunctionalization, miniaturization and integration during development of devices such as smart sensors and actuators, better-performing photocatalysts, and fast electrochromic devices. On the other hand, organized arrays of dispersed ferromagnetic or ferroelectric nanoparticles are promising materials for spintronics and for cheap, non-volatile 'flash' memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14761122
- Volume :
- 3
- Issue :
- 11
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Nature Materials
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 18445642
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1206