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Stable zinc oxide nanoparticle dispersions in ionic liquids

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Abstract

The influence of the hydrophilicity and length of the cation alkyl chain in imidazolium-based ionic liquids on the dispersability of ZnO nanoparticles by ultrasound treatment was studied by dynamic light scattering and advanced rheology. ZnO nanopowder synthesized by chemical vapor synthesis was used in parallel with one commercially available material. Before preparation of the dispersion, the nanoparticles characteristics were determined by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption with BET analysis, and FT-IR spectroscopy. Hydrophilic ionic liquids dispersed all studied nanopowders better and in the series of hydrophilic ionic liquids, an improvement of the dispersion quality with increasing length of the alkyl chain of the cation was observed. Especially, for ionic liquids with short alkyl chain, additional factors like nanoparticle concentration in the dispersion and the period of the ultrasonic treatment had significant influence on the dispersion quality. Additionally, nanopowder characteristics (crystallite shape and size as well as the agglomeration level) influenced the dispersion quality. The results indicate that the studied ionic liquids are promising candidates for absorber media at the end of the gas phase synthesis reactor allowing the direct preparation of non-agglomerated nanoparticle dispersions without supplementary addition of dispersants and stabilizers.

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Acknowledgments

The financial support through the NanoEnergieTechnikZentrum (NETZ), an application-focused research project partially financed by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the European Union, is kindly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Technische Chemie II, Universität Duisburg-Essen, 45141, Essen, Germany

    Alexandra Wittmar & Mathias Ulbricht

  2. Anorganische Chemie, Universität Duisburg-Essen, 45141, Essen, Germany

    Wolfgang Mayer-Zaika

  3. Nanoparticle Process Technology, Universität Duisburg-Essen, 47057, Duisburg, Germany

    Devendraprakash Gautam, Carolin Schilling, Udo Dörfler & Markus Winterer

  4. CENIDE – Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen, 47057, Duisburg, Germany

    Alexandra Wittmar, Devendraprakash Gautam, Udo Dörfler, Markus Winterer & Mathias Ulbricht

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  1. Alexandra Wittmar
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  2. Devendraprakash Gautam
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  3. Carolin Schilling
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  4. Udo Dörfler
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  6. Markus Winterer
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  7. Mathias Ulbricht
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Correspondence to Mathias Ulbricht.

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Wittmar, A., Gautam, D., Schilling, C. et al. Stable zinc oxide nanoparticle dispersions in ionic liquids. J Nanopart Res 16, 2341 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-014-2341-2

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