Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

Abstract

The purpose of the zinc oxide nanoparticles is to be surrounded by oleic acid to be later crashed out with TEOS (tetraethyl orthosilicate) in the hope of creating a greasy chain. The greasy chain could be used to create films that are conductive and used in transistors. Phosphoric acid buffer is utilized to disrupt the pH in the system, as this will affect the ionic strength. It allows one to determine which buffer zone would work best to allow the oleic acid to surround the zinc oxide nanoparticle from the data determining which buffer would work best. The TEOS to be added would orientate themselves with their hydrophobic polar head inward and the nonpolar hydrophilic tail facing outward, allowing them to bind to other tails and aggregate together. Once all the nanoparticles are aggregated a glass slide can be dipped in and pulled out to form thin films of nanoparticles. There has been success in creating the phosphoric buffers and having the zinc oxide nanoparticles turn a milky white color when the oleic acid, ethanol, and buffer are added. This process is currently being replicated to ensure that the results can be reproduced to strengthen our findings.

Details

Session 2

3:00pm – 4:30pm

Grand Salon

HSI-SMART