Structural and catalytic properties of ZnO and Al 2O 3 nanostructures loaded with metal nanoparticles

Abstract

Nanostructured zinc oxide (ZnO) nanobelts and aluminum oxide (Al 2O 3) 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. Al 2O 3 nanostructures grew in the form of nanoribbons with an average width range of 20-30 nm and a length of up to 1 lm. The catalytic oxidation of CO gas into CO 2 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 Al 2O 3 nanoribbons (100% conversion at 250 °C). The catalytic activity increased in the order Cu