Synthesis of low dimensional oxide based complex materials by a vapor-solid method

Nano and microstructures of ternary oxide compounds, such as nickel gallate, indium-zinc-oxide compounds, and lithium stagnates, have been successfully synthetized by a vapor-solid method. Following this synthesis process, a significant amount of material is produced in an economic and scalable way. NiGa2O4 nano- and microneedles are grown using mixtures of Ga₂O₃powders and Ni and Ga metallic powders as main precursors. In the case of In2ZnkO3+k compounds, the precursor blend contains ZnO and InN or In2S3 as a source for indium atoms, producing 1-dimensional or 2-dimentional preferential growth, respectively. The growth of complex branched structures of Li2SnO3 has been achieved with the use of SnO2 and Li2CO3. The temperature and precursor selection allow us to engineer the size, grade of complexity and final morphology of the structures. The growth mechanism of the obtained nano and microstructures is discussed and the driven force behind it is identified as anisotropic growth, autocatalytic process and dislocation driven mechanisms, depending on the specific materials and experimental conditions. Ternary compounds will be presented together with their properties characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy techniques. The possibility of synthetizing nanocomposites will be also briefly discussed.