Vinyltrimethoxysilane-modified zinc oxide quantum dots with tuned optical properties

2019/6/17

Surface modification of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) with covalently attachable organosilane species is a promising route for the preparation of hybrid nanomaterials in which optical and physico-chemical properties can be easily tuned. As a continuation of our ongoing studies regarding the surface modification of ZnO NPs with adjustable optical properties, we here report a novel series of hybrid zinc oxide quantum dots (ZnO QDs) modified with Vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS). The modified ZnO QDs, with sizes spanning the range 3–4?nm, were obtained through a simple and low-cost precipitation method. They were morpho-structurally characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, while their optical properties were studied by UV–vis spectroscopy. When applied as thin films on glass substrate, the obtained ZnO QDs showed excellent optical transmittance between 85 and 90%, and low reflectance in the visible domain. The photoluminescence spectra showed a significant blue-shift of the emission bands, from 578?nm for unmodified ZnO to 540?nm for ZnO modified with 10% VTMS. A new opposite trend of band gap variation from 3.494?eV for unmodified ZnO to 3.32?eV for ZnO modified with 10% VTMS was detected, while an organosilane loading higher than 10% was found to reincrease both nanoparticles size and band gap energy. These results highlighted the better ability of VTMS to attain a higher degree of nanoparticles size reduction, along with the tuning of the optical properties, with respect to the previously reported ZnO-MPS series.