Metal oxide nanostructures with hierarchical morphology
AssigneeThe Trustees of Boston College
InventorsZhifen Ren, J.Y. Lao, Debasish Banerjee
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Abstract
The present invention relates generally to metal oxide materials with varied symmetrical nanostructure morphologies. In particular, the present invention provides metal oxide materials comprising one or more metallic oxides with three-dimensionally ordered nanostructural morphologies, including hierarchical morphologies. The present invention also provides methods for producing such metal oxide materials.
Claims54
A metal oxide material comprising at least one metallic oxide wherein said metallic oxide is aligned in a three-dimensionally periodic orientation so as to confer a symmetric nanostructural morphology to said metal oxide material.
A process for the formation of a metal oxide material with symmetric nanostructural morphology comprising the steps of:
- a) crystallizing a first metallic oxide so as to form a thermally stable structure having three-dimensionally periodic orientations;
- and
- b) infiltrating the structure formed by the first metallic oxide with a second metallic oxide to form a composite material so as to confer a symmetric nanostructural morphology to said composite material.
40 The process of claim 39, wherein metallic oxide material comprises a first metallic oxide and a second metallic oxide, wherein said first metallic oxide forms a central nanostructural spine having a linear axis, whereupon said second metallic oxide forms terminally attached three-dimensional periodically oriented linear nanostructural rods, the linear axes of said nanostructural rods being oriented substantially non-parallel to the linear axis of said nanostructural spine of said first metallic oxide.
The process of claim 40, wherein the central nanostructural spine consists essentially of In2O3.
The process of claim 40, wherein second metallic oxide consists essentially of ZnO.
The process of claim 40, wherein the nanostructural rods comprising the second metallic oxide are substantially orthogonal to the linear axis of the central nanostructural spine.
The process of claim 40, wherein the nanostructural rods comprising the second metallic oxide are slanted to the central nanostructural spine, so as to form a finite, non-orthogonal angle with the linear axis of said central nanostructural spine.
The process of claim 40, wherein at least one of the metallic oxides further comprises a dopant material.
A process for the formation of a nanostructural device comprising the steps of:
- a) adherently depositing a catalyst material in a microparticulate form in a predetermined configuration on the surface of a substrate material so as to provide a plurality of catalytic sites on the surface of said substrate material.
- b) initiating growth of microparticulate crystals of a metallic oxide at the catalytic sites so as to form a plurality of three-dimensional periodic nanostructural crystalline nodes comprising said metallic oxide;
- and
- c) allowing continued crystal growth of the metallic oxide so as to render the nanostructural crystalline nodes of said metallic oxide to become connected by three-dimensional periodically aligned nanowire structures comprising the metallic oxide.
53 A microelectronic device comprising a metal oxide material comprising at least one metallic oxide wherein said metallic oxide is aligned in a three-dimensionally periodic orientation so as to confer symmetric nanostructural morphology to said metal oxide material.
The microelectronic device of claim 53, selected from the group consisting of field emission device, photovoltaic device, optoelectronic device, blue optical device, ultra-violet optical device, transparent conductive film, transparent electronic imaging shielding device, transparent field effect transistor, supercapacitor, fuel cell, nanocomposite, data-storage device, biochemical sensor, chemical sensor, gas sensor, solar cell, photocatalysis device, bulk acoustic waves device, window heating device, and light emitting diode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.