Discipline: Chemistry and Chemical Sciences
Subcategory: Nanoscience
Session: 1
Room: Calvert
Kerianys N. Torres-Torres - University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
Co-Author(s): Josian Luciano-Velázquez, University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez Sonia Bailón-Ruiz, University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
Nanomaterials such as zinc oxide have potential applications in nanomedicine, biosensors, catalysts, and biomedical bio-imaging because of their intrinsic optical properties. We report the synthesis and characterization of zinc oxide nanostructures in the presence of ethylene glycol and the effect of the zinc precursor on the particle. Zinc oxide nanoparticles were produced in presence of ethylene glycol and zinc precursors at 197 °C by using a reflux system. The reaction time ranged from two to six hours and the precursors evaluated were zinc sulfate heptahydrate (II) and zinc acetate dehydrated (II). As-synthesized nanostructures were characterized by Absorption and Photoluminescence spectroscopies. Besides, the presence of ethylene glycol on the ZnO was corroborated by Infrared Spectroscopy. Results evidenced that nanostructures exhibited strong emission peaks at 400 nm which comes from the recombination of their pars electron-hole. Whereas the absorption spectra exhibited shoulder peaks at approximately 360 nm which is attributed to the band gap. Also, preliminary studies evidenced that ZnO nanostructures have catalytic properties to destroy contaminants in aqueous matrices.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): The funders of this research are:1. Puerto Rico Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (PR-LSAMP)
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Sonia Bailón-Ruiz, sonia.bailon@upr.edu
Role: The entire research was made by me with the guidance of my research mentor Dr. Sonia Bailón-Ruiz, PhD