SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF INORGANIC NANOPARTICLES
Nanoparticles have demonstrated a range of fascinating electrical, catalytic, magnetic and optical properties that are distinct from those of bulk materials. Tailoring the size, shape and structure (e.g., solid or hollow) of nanocrystals opens a window to finely tune the physical and chemical properties. These nanoparticles, in turn, have found their applications in many emerging fields such as catalysis for organic reactions, fuel cells and pollutant reduction, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensing, electronics, and biomedical imaging and therapy. Many of these applications require the use of nanocrystals with precisely controlled parameters, such as size, shape, structure, crystallinity, composition and surface chemistry. Thus, a strong field of research has emerged during the last two decades especially focused
on the development of synthetic methodologies for inorganic and metal nanocrystals that enables reproducible control over their parameters and thus the study of their structure-property relationship in the context of practical applications. In particular, colloidal synthesis has proven extremely useful to prepare a wide variety of nanoparticles with tight control of size and shape. Nonetheless, it is no possible to provide rational nanomaterials design yet provided that a great part of the accumulated knowledge and experience is still empirical. Our group is particularly interested in developing, optimizing and adapting bottom-up synthetic routes, specially colloidal synthesis, for the production of inorganic nanoparticles such as metal plasmonic NPs (Au, Ag, Cu) and wires, quantum dots (QDs) and magnetic NPs (iron oxides, Mn/Co/Zn Fe-substituted ferrites). In this manner, we are also able to easily adjust the size and shape of the obtained nanocrystals as well as providing them with suitable coatings to produce either hydrophobic or hydrophilic colloidally stable, robust NPs for a variety of (bio)applications. Currently, we also work on the production of nanocomposites based on inorganic NPs and MOF (metal-organic frameworks), as well as other exciting, new materials, such as NPs made of perovskite semiconductors and up-converting ceramics (oxide and fluoride-based).