Morphology Control of ZnO Nanomaterials using Double Hydrophilic Block Copolymers

Abstract

posterInternational audienceHighly crystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) nanomaterials are synthesized using a seeded growth sol-gel method. In order to control the morphology and the organization of the ZnO nanomaterials, a double hydrophilic block copolymer has been introduced during the seeded growth synthesis: the Polyacrylic acid-Polyacrylamide (PAA-PAM). Depending on the amount of PAA-PAM copolymers, different morphologies were obtained, such as ZnO nanostructured spheres or flat hexagonal crystals. Thus, systematic studies have been done to investigate the influence of the copolymer addition on ZnO nanomaterial morphologies and explain the mechanisms of the morphological modifications