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Structural and catalytic properties of ZnO and Al2O3 nanostructures loaded with metal nanoparticles

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Abstract

Nanostructured zinc oxide (ZnO) nanobelts and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoribbons have been grown successfully from the vapor phase. XRD results confirmed the purity and the high quality of the formed crystalline materials. TEM images showed that ZnO nanostructures grew in the commonly known tetrapod structure with nanobelts separated from the tetrapods with an average width range of 10–30 nm and a length of about 500 nm. Al2O3 nanostructures grew in the form of nanoribbons with an average width range of 20–30 nm and a length of up to 1 μm. The catalytic oxidation of CO gas into CO2 gas over the synthesized nanostructures is also reported. Higher catalytic activity was observed for Pd nanoparticles loaded on the ZnO nanobelts (100% conversion at 270 °C) and Al2O3 nanoribbons (100% conversion at 250 °C). The catalytic activity increased in the order Cu < Co < Au < Pd for the metal-loaded nanostructures. The preparation methods could be applied for the synthesis of novel nanostructures of various materials with novel properties resulting from the different shapes and morphologies.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the US-Egypt Joint Research Grant # ENV-09-003-279 for the support of this study. We also thank the National Science Foundation (OISE-0938520) for the support of the “US-Egypt Advanced Studies Institute on Nanomaterials and Nanocatalysis for Energy, Petrochemicals and Environmental Applications” which facilitated the completion of this study. We thank RAK CAM (Ras Al Khaimah Center for Advanced Materials, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE) for the Sheikh SAQR postdoctoral fellowship for Qilin Dai.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI), P.O. Box 87, Helwan, Cairo, 11421, Egypt

    Osama A. Fouad

  2. Department of Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23284-2006, USA

    Osama A. Fouad, Abd El Rahman S. Khder, Qilin Dai & M. Samy El-Shall

  3. Department of Chemistry, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt

    Abd El Rahman S. Khder

Authors
  1. Osama A. Fouad
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  2. Abd El Rahman S. Khder
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  3. Qilin Dai
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  4. M. Samy El-Shall
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Correspondence to Osama A. Fouad or M. Samy El-Shall.

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Fouad, O.A., Khder, A.E.R.S., Dai, Q. et al. Structural and catalytic properties of ZnO and Al2O3 nanostructures loaded with metal nanoparticles. J Nanopart Res 13, 7075–7083 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-011-0620-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-011-0620-8

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