Synthesis of indium nanoparticles at ambient temperature; simultaneous phase transfer and ripening

Abstract

The synthesis of size-monodispersed indium nanoparticles via an innovative simultaneous phase transfer and ripening method is reported. The formation of nanoparticles occurs in a one-step process instead of well-known two-step phase transfer approaches. The synthesis involves the reduction of InCl3 with LiBH4 at ambient temperature and although the reduction occurs at room temperature, fine indium nanoparticles, with a mean diameter of 6.4 ± 0.4 nm, were obtained directly in non-polar n-dodecane. The direct synthesis of indium nanoparticles in n-dodecane facilitates their fast formation and enhances their size-monodispersity. In addition, the nanoparticles were highly stable for more than 2 months. The nanoparticles were characterised by dynamic light scattering (DLS), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to determine their morphology, structure and phase purity.

Rapid, Low-Temperature Synthesis of Germanium Nanowires from Oligosilylgermane Precursors

“…n -Dodecane (Sigma-Aldrich, 99%) and n -hexadecane (Amresco, technical grade) were degassed with nitrogen bubbling for 1 h, whereas oleylamine (OA) (Aldrich, technical grade, 70%) and squalane (Alfa Aesar, 98%) were subjected to vacuum conditions before use. Hexakis­(trimethylsilyl)­digermane, tris­(trimethylsilyl)­[tris­(trimethylsilyl)­silyl]­germane, and In nanoparticles were prepared following the published procedures.…”

Galvanic Replacement-Enabled Synthesis of In(OH)3/Ag/C Nanocomposite as an Effective Photocatalyst for Ultraviolet C Degradation of Methylene Blue

“…The indium atoms then joined to form In NPs, which grew in size (brown solution in Figure c) and finally stabilized as ∼7 nm In NPs (black solution in Figure d). The monodispersity was achieved due to a distinct separation of nucleation and growth as recommended by LaMer. , According to Lim et al, the formation of In NPs involved the creation of an amine–borane complex and a TOPO-stabilized InCl 2 H species (colorless mixture in Figure a), which was reported to be stable at room temperature. At a temperature of >70 °C, the TOPO-InCl 2 H species decomposed to form indium metal atoms (protected by TOPO), which later assembled into In NPs (Figure e) .…”

“…(a) Colorless mixture (TOPO-InCl 2 H) stable at 25 °C under inert gas. (b) Formation of TOPO-stabilized In 0 atom (nucleation) . (c) Growing In NPs.…”

“…Indium metal, specifically in the form of sub-10 nm In NPs, is an important and versatile material with a wide range of applications. In NPs have been used as seeds for the controlled solid–liquid–solid (SLS) and vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) growth of III–V and II–VI semiconductor nanorods and nanowires, which are an integral part of the next-generation optoelectronic materials. − In 2018, Jung et al reported the use of monodisperse In NPs as a robust defect-passivation agent . In NPs were first spin-coated onto a quantum-dot-thin-film-transistor (QD-TFT), and heat was later used to activate an indium diffusion process, which led to the optimization of QD-TFT with an excellent electrical performance and improved contact resistance .…”

Facile Synthesis of Heterogeneous Indium Nanoparticles for Formate Production via CO2 Electroreduction

“…We believe that these conditions (i.e., low metal precursor concentration and controlled and slow addition of the reductive agent) are particularly favorable for the isotropic growth of In nanoparticles, thereby leading to the formation of spherical shapes. It is worth mentioning that most of previous works reported the formation of unique geometries separately [52,[54][55][56][57]. The synthesis method described in this work leads to a heterogeneous mixture of geometries, which can be an advantageous way to introduce edges sites and to enrich the catalyst morphology.…”