Advanced Wet-Chemical Synthetic Approaches to Inorganic Nanostructures

Inorganic nanomaterials represent one of the most fertile grounds on which the current scientific revolution of nanoscience is being founded. The unique size and shape dependent chemical-physical properties of nanostructures bring them into a key position as constituent elements for realizing a large spectrum of unprecedented self-assembled functional materials, smart devices, and processes. Among the various "bottom-up" fabrication approaches, wet-chemical routes have universally distinguished for their ability to provide high-quality nanocrystals with a number of desirable prerequisites, such as controlled composition and crystal phase, tailored geometric parameters, programmed surface functionalities, chemical robustness, and ease of processability. Disparate applications in fields as diverse as optoelectronics, photovoltaics, sensing, environmental remediation, catalysis, fuel cells, fabrication of novel materials, and biomedicine, are already on the way toward commercialization. Efforts of nanochemistry research toward effective synthetic methods to purpose-built nanomaterials have incredibly proliferated over the past 30 years, and have now reached a high level of advancement. In this book, we venture through this exciting field, addressing the most relevant technical and mechanistic aspects involved in solution-phase synthesis of nanostructures made of inorganic semiconductor, metal and oxide materials. Chapters 1 to 3 provide fundamental concepts for the understanding of wet-chemical processing of inorganic nanomaterials in liquid media. General organic chemistry pathways of transformation of molecular precursors into inorganic frameworks, mechanistic aspects underlying nucleation and growth of nanoparticles, as well the influence of crystal symmetry, surfactants, ligands, solvents, interfaces, and catalysts, on the formation of nanostructures, are described and discussed. Subsequent chapters are individually dedicated to address specific synthetic issues related to the preparation of principal classes of technologically relevant nanoscale materials, with particular emphasis on rationalization of criteria leading to compositional, size and shape control of nanostructures. Chapter 4 provides the basics of sonochemistry and its application to the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles. Chapter 5 focuses on methods for the preparation of functional magnetic nanostructures and nanocomposite systems, addressing their impact on the relevant chemical-physical behaviour of the as-derived nanomaterials. Chapters 6 to 8 describe routes to both free-standing and carbon-supported plasmonic and alloyed metallic nanoparticles, that are relevant to a number of magneto-optical and catalytic uses. Chapters 9 and 10 offer an overview of synthetic approaches to valuable transition metal oxide materials (with special focus on titania) and to nanocomposite systems based thereof, which are desired in photoelectrocatalytic applications. Chapters 11 to 13 deal with synthetic design of various categories of luminescent materials, including core/shell semiconductor and doped oxide nanocrystals on one side, and hybrid organic/inorganic lamellar nanostructures, on the other side. Finally, Chapter 14 illustrates advanced synthetic strategies to multimaterial hybrid nanocrystals with a spatially controlled distribution of their chemical composition, which represent last-generation breeds of colloidal nanostructures with multiple functional capabilities. The book provides a variety of examples of current developments and supports the text descriptions with appropriate characterization data, reaction schemes and explanatorysketches. The result is an up-to-date monographic compendium on wet-chemistrymethods to inorganic nanomaterials, which can appeal to a broad readership of bothpracticing students and more specialized scientists. Enjoy reading!