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Controlled Chemical Transformation and Crystallization Design for the Formation of Multifunctional Cu-Doped ZnO/ZnAl2O4 Composites

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Abstract

Photoactive Cu-doped ZnO–ZnAl2O4 ceramic nanocomposites and coatings were prepared by polymer-salt method. The luminescent spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction methods were used for the study the structure, morphology and materials properties. The nanocomposites consist of small hexagonal ZnO and cubic ZnAl2O4 nanocrystals having size about 10 nm. The study of luminescence properties shows that prepared nanocomposites can be used as light down-converters that transfer short-wave ultraviolet (UV-C) radiation into long-wave ultraviolet (UV-A) and visible spectral range. These nanocomposites can be very attractive in photovoltaic applications as spectral down-converters. Also obtained nanocomposites demonstrate the ability to generate chemically active singlet oxygen under UV-A radiation and blue light. The experiments show that Cu-doped ZnO–ZnAl2O4 materials demonstrate antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria.

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Acknowledgements

The reported study was funded by Russian Science Foundation, according to the research project No. 20-19-00559.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ITMO University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

    Artiom Tincu, Andrey Aleksandrovich Shelemanov, Sergey Konstantinovich Evstropiev, Nikolay Valentinovich Nikonorov & Konstantin Vladimirovich Dukelskii

  2. Saint-Petersburg State Technological Institute (Technical University), Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Sergey Konstantinovich Evstropiev & Konstantin Vladimirovich Dukelskii

  3. RPA “Vavilov State Optical Institute”, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

    Sergey Konstantinovich Evstropiev

  4. The Bonch-Bruevich Saint-Petersburg State University of Telecommunications, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

    Konstantin Vladimirovich Dukelskii

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Tincu and Shelemanov - obtaining data and conducting an experiment Evstropiev - writing the main manuscript text Shelemanov and Evstropiev - preparing figures All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Andrey Aleksandrovich Shelemanov.

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Tincu, A., Shelemanov, A.A., Evstropiev, S.K. et al. Controlled Chemical Transformation and Crystallization Design for the Formation of Multifunctional Cu-Doped ZnO/ZnAl2O4 Composites. J Inorg Organomet Polym 33, 398–406 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10904-022-02507-6

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