Abstract
Various sizes and shapes of Mn3O4 nanocrystals have been prepared in a one-pot synthesis in extremely dilute solution by soft template self-assembly. To better control size and shape, the effects of varying the growth time, reaction temperature, surfactant, and manganese source were examined. The average size of octahedral Mn3O4 crystallites was found to be related to the reaction time, while higher reaction temperature (150 °C) and the use of a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide/poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (CTAB/PVP) mixture allowed construction of a better-defined octahedral morphologies. When PVP or poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide) (P123) was used as template, large-scale agglomeration resulting in loss of the octahedral morphology occurred and crystallites with a quasi-spherical shape were obtained. The nano-octahedral crystallites were shown to be an efficient catalyst for the oxidation of methylene blue.
![](http://media.springernature.com/lw685/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs12274-010-1026-0/MediaObjects/12274_2010_1026_Fig1_HTML.jpg)
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Charlier, J. C.; Blase, X.; Roche, S. Electronic and transport properties of nanotubes. Rev. Mod. Phys. 2007, 79, 677–732.
Guo, X. F.; Huang, L. M.; O’Brien, S.; Kim, P.; Nuckolls, K. Directing and sensing changes in molecular conformation on individual carbon nanotube field effect transistors. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 127, 15045–15047.
Simmons, J. M.; In, I.; Campbell, V. E.; Mark, T. J.; Léonard, F.; Gopalan, P.; Eriksson, M. A. Optically modulated conduction in chromophore-functionalized single-wall carbon nanotubes. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2007, 98, 086802.
Borghetti, J.; Derycke, V.; Lenfant, S.; Chenevier, P.; Filoramo, A.; Goffman, M.; Vuillaume, D.; Bourgoin, J. P. Optoelectronic switch and memory devices based on polymer-functionalized carbon nanotube transistors. Adv. Mater. 2006, 18, 2535–2540.
Mannik, J.; Goldsmith, B. R.; Kane, A.; Collins, P. G. Chemically induced conductance switching in carbon nanotube circuits. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2006, 97, 016601.
Goldsmith, B. R.; Coroneus, J. G.; Khalap, V. R.; Kane, A. A.; Weiss, G. A.; Collins, P. G. Conductance-controlled point functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Science 2007, 315, 77–81.
Meunier, V.; Kalinin, S. V.; Sumpter, B. G. Nonvolatile memory elements based on the intercalation of organic molecules inside carbon nanotubes. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2007, 98, 056401.
Derycke, V.; Auvray, S.; Borghetti, J.; Chung, C. L.; Lefèvre, R.; Lopez-Bezanilla, A.; Nguyen, K.; Robert, G.; Schmidt, G.; Anghel, C.; Chimot, N.; Lyonnais, S.; Streiff, S.; Campidelli, S.; Chenevier, P.; Filoramo, A.; Goffman, M. F.; Goux-Capes, L.; Latil, S.; Blase, X.; Triozon, F.; Roche S.; Bourgoin, J. P. Carbon nanotube chemistry and assembly for electronic devices. C. R. Physique 2009, 10, 330–347.
Bahr, J. L.; Tour, J. M. Highly functionalized carbon nanotubes using in situ generated diazonium compounds. Chem. Mater. 2001, 13, 3823–3824.
Cabana, J.; Martel, R. Probing the reversibility of sidewall functionalization using carbon nanotube transistors. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 2244–2245.
Balasubramanian, K.; Lee, E. J. H.; Weitz, R. T.; Burghard, T.; Kern, T. Carbon nanotube transistors-chemical functionalization and device characterization. Phys. Status Solidi A 2008, 205, 633–646.
Le, Y. S.; Nardelli, M. B.; Marzari, N. Band structure and quantum conductance of nanostructures from maximally localized wannier functions: The case of functionalized carbon nanotubes Phys. Rev. Lett. 2005, 95, 076804.
Triozon, F.; Lambin, P.; Roche, S. Electronic transport properties of carbon nanotube based metal/semiconductor/metal intramolecular junctions. Nanotechnology 2005, 16, 230–233.
Lopez-Bezanilla, A.; Triozon, F.; Latil, S.; Blase, X.; Roche, S. Effect of the chemical functionalization on charge transport in carbon nanotubes at the mesoscopic scale. Nano Lett. 2009, 9, 940–944.
Chen, Y.; Haddon, R. C.; Fang, S.; Rao, A. M.; Lee, W. H.; Dickey, E. C.; Grulke, E. A.; Pendergrass, J. C.; Chavan, A.; Haley, B. E.; Smalley, R. E. Chemical attachment of organic functional groups to single-walled carbon nanotube material. J. Mater. Res. 1998, 13, 2423–2431.
Chen, J.; Hamon, M. A.; Hu, H.; Chen, Y. S.; Rao, A. M.; Eklund, P. C.; Haddon, R. C. Solution properties of singlewalled carbon nanotubes Science 1998, 282, 95–98.
Holzinger, M.; Vostrowsky, Q.; Hirsch, A.; Hennrich, F.; Kappes, M.; Weiss, R.; Jellen, F. Sidewall functionalization of carbon nanotubes. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 4002–4005.
Coleman, K. S.; Bailey, S. R.; Fogden, S.; Green, M. L. H. Functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes via the bingel reaction. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 8722–8723.
Chen, Z. F.; Nagase, S.; Hirsch, A.; Haddon, R. C.; Thiel, W.; Schley, P. C. Side-wall opening of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) by chemical modification: A critical theoretical study. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 1552–1554.
Lee, Y. S.; Marzari, N. Cycloaddition functionalizations to preserve or control the conductance of carbon nanotubes. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2006, 97, 116801.
Park, H.; Zhao, J. J.; Lu, J. P. Effects of sidewall functionalization on conducting properties of single wall carbon nanotubes. Nano Lett. 2006, 6, 916–919.
Sánchez-Portal, D.; Ordejon, P.; Artacho, E.; Soler, J. M. Density-functional method for very large systems with LCAO basis sets. Int. J. Quant. Chem. 1997, 65, 453–461.
Soler, J. M.; Artacho, E.; Gale, J. D.; Garcia, A.; Junquera, J.; Ordejon, P.; Sanchez-Portal, D. The SIESTA method for ab initio order-N materials simulation. J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 2002, 14, 2745–2779.
Troullier, N.; Martins, J. L. Efficient pseudopotentials for plane-wave calculations. Phys. Rev. B 1991, 43, 1993–2006.
Lee, Y. S.; Marzari, N. Cycloadditions to control bond breaking in naphthalenes, fullerenes, and carbon nanotubes: A first-principles study. J. Phys. Chem. C 2008, 112, 4480–4485.
Kane, C. L.; Mele, E. L. Size, shape, and low energy electronic structure of carbon nanotubes. Phys. Rev. Lett. 1997, 78, 1932.
Biel, B.; García-Vidal, F. J.; Rubio, A.; Flores, F. Ab initio study of transport properties in defected carbon nanotubes: An O(N) approach. J. Phys: Condes. Matter 2008, 20, 294214.
Adessi, Ch.; Roche, S.; Blase, X. Reduced backscattering in potassium-doped nanotubes: Ab initio and semiempirical simulations. Phys. Rev. B 2006, 73, 125414.
Triozon, F.; Roche, S. Efficient linear scaling method for computing the Landauer-Büttiker conductance. Eur. Phys. J. B 2005, 46, 427–431.
Triozon, F.; Lambin, P.; Roche, S. Electronic transport properties of carbon nanotube based metal/semiconductor/metal intramolecular junctions. Nanotechnology 2005, 16, 230–233.
Avriller, R.; Roche, S.; Triozon, F.; Blase, X. Low-dimensional quantum transport properties of chemically-disordered carbon nanotubes: From weak to strong localization regimes. Mod. Phys. Lett. B 2007, 21, 1955–1982.
Rocha, A. R.; Rossil, M.; Fazzio, A.; da Silva, A. J. R. Designing real nanotube-based gas sensors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2008, 100, 176803.
Markussen, T.; Rurali, R.; Brandbyge, M.; Jauho, A. P. Electronic transport through Si nanowires: Role of bulk and surface disorder. Phys. Rev. B 2006, 74, 245313.
The convergence to the clean system at the boundaries of a functionalized nanotube section can be checked through comparison of the conductance profiles obtained from its last layers (dotted lines in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3) with those of pristine nanotubes sections.
Margine, E. R.; Bocquet, M. L.; Blase, X. Thermal stability of graphene and nanotube covalent functionalization. Nano Lett. 2008, 8, 3315–3319.
Latil, S.; Roche, S.; Charlier, J. C. Electronic transport in carbon nanotubes with random coverage of physisorbed molecules. Nano Lett. 2005, 5, 2216–2219.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0 ), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, P., Zhan, Y., Cai, B. et al. Shape-controlled synthesis of Mn3O4 nanocrystals and their catalysis of the degradation of methylene blue. Nano Res. 3, 235–243 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-010-1026-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-010-1026-0