Mechanistic Insight into the Precursor Chemistry of ZrO₂ and HfO₂ Nanocrystals; towards Size-Tunable Syntheses.

ABSTRACT: One can nowadays readily generate monodisperse colloidal nanocrystals, but a retrosynthetic analysis is still not possible since the underlying chemistry is often poorly understood. Here, we provide insight into the reaction mechanism of colloidal zirconia and hafnia nanocrystals synthesized from metal chloride and metal isopropoxide. We identify the active precursor species in the reaction mixture through a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and pair distribution function (PDF) analysis. We gain insight into the interaction of the surfactant, tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO), and the different precursors. Interestingly, we identify a peculiar X-type ligand redistribution mechanism that can be steered by the r

SUBMITTER: Pokratath R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9088301 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature