Preparation And Properties Of Low Dimensional Nanomaterials With Hollow Structure

Low-dimensional materials with hollow structure have been attracting much interests in the past decades because of their low density, low refractive index, huge specific surface area and many potential applications in biomedicines, sensors, catalysts, energy and so on. In this study, we have explored two kinds of facile methods for fabrications of Nb2O5 hollow spheres and PANI/Au composite nanotubes, and further investigated the catalytic and/or optoelectronic properties of the nanomaterials. The contents of the research can be summarized as follows:(1) Monodispersed PSAM/Nb2O5 hybrid hollow spheres have been successfully synthesized using a one-step method based on hollowing mechanism similar to the Kirkendall effect. Nb2O5 inorganic hollow spheres or short rods can be further produced upon different calcination temperatures. The as-obtained Nb2O5 hollow spheres exhibited not only significantly more pronounced photocatalytic activity under UV light than short rods or commercial Mb2O5, but also showed auto-acceleration effects and even better photocatalytic performance than P25. Moreover, the as-obtained Nb2O5 hollow sphere nanofilm-based photodevice fabricated via oil-water interfacial self-assembly showed excellent UV photodetective ability. In this way, the as-obtained Nb2O5 hollow spheres are quite promising for applications not only in environmental protection, but also in optoelectronic devices.(2) A novel organic nanowire was obtained through the self-assembly of aniline oligomers by taking the advantage of oil-water interface. The effect of different organic phase was also discussed. The nanowires had good dispersion in aqueous phase, negative charge on the surface, and could be easily dissolved by organic solvent, which could make them the ideal template. Polyaniline (PANI) nanotubes were successfully synthesized through chemical oxidation by using the nanowires as templates. Au particles were further decorated to form PANI/Au composite nanotubes through methods of electrostatic adsorption and in-situ reduction. The dosages of aniline and Au and decorating temperatures were proved to have some impacts on the morphologies of products.4-NP model was applied to measure the catalytic ability of PANI/Au nanotubes. The result showed that the converting rate of p-nitrophenol could reach as high as 80% after 30 min, indicating an excellent catalytic ability.