The effects of vitamin C on ZnO crystal formation

Abstract

We have studied the effects of L(+)-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) on the formation of ZnO crystals. We carried out a series of experiments under weak acidic to alkaline conditions. We obtained ZnO structures with various distinct morphologies by varying the concentration of vitamin C dissolved in the weak acidic and alkaline solutions. Under weak acidic conditions, if the concentration of added vitamin C exceeds 0.5 mM, mixed amorphous/crystalline vitamin C-ZnO (VitC-ZnO) nanostructures are obtained. We also found that the ZnO content of the VitC-ZnO nanostructures can be controlled by adjusting the concentration of vitamin C added to the reaction solution. On the basis of our results, we propose a mechanism for the formation of the various ZnO structures and VitC-ZnO nanostructures in the presence of vitamin C.

Vitamin C-assisted synthesis and gas sensing properties of coaxial In2O3 nanorod bundles

“…Even though detailed mechanism still needs more investigation, a plausible mechanism was proposed to explain the formation of In 2 O 3 nanorods on the basis of the foregoing results. As demonstrated by Cho et.al and Shang et.al [35,36], vitamin C anions could adsorb onto the crystal surface because of their polar groups (-COO-and -OH), which will further hamper the crystal surface from directly contacting ambient solution and slow down the growth of crystal in all directions. Hence, the uniform nanoparticles were obtained at the beginning stage.…”

Effect of ascorbic acid on structural properties of ZnO nanoparticles prepared by precipitation process

“…The morphology, shape and size of these materials play very important functions in determining their properties such as optical, electrical, and magnetic properties [1,2]. The control on the structure, size and morphology of nanomaterials has always been the most fundamental and yet challenging goal [3].…”

“…The performance of chemical synthesis method in controlling the properties of nanoparticles such as structural, morphological properties are more convenient and low expressive cost than physical process. With the capping agents such as ethylenediamine, citrates, amino acid, polyacrylemide, gelatin [1] etc., the size and morphology of ZnO can be controlled via the solutionbased process. The modification of ZnO growth is usually expanded in term of anisotropic, face-specific growth kinetics [4].…”

“…Ascorbic acid has been widely used as a reducing agent in the synthesis process of nanomaterials such as metal oxide, metal nanoparticle [1,5]. Because of the ascorbic acid can also form complexes in the solution with various metal ions such as Fe 3+ , Cu 2+ , Co 3+ , and Zn 2+ .…”

Fabrication and photocatalytic activity of mushroom-like ZnO microcrystals via a solvothermal route

“…Recently, organic acids, for their complexation with metal ions, have been widely employed as surfactants to construct ZnO hierarchical structures, in which various ZnO with different morphologies and different properties have been obtained successfully [15][16]. In this paper, with the addition of oxalic acid, we synthesized ZnO mushrooms composed of towers by a simple solvothermal method.…”