Synthesis of indium nanoparticles at ambient temperature; simultaneous phase transfer and ripening

Mohammad Aghazadeh Meshgi; Manfred Kriechbaum; Subhajit Biswas; Justin D Holmes; Christoph Marschner

doi:10.1007/s11051-016-3683-8

Synthesis of indium nanoparticles at ambient temperature; simultaneous phase transfer and ripening

J Nanopart Res. 2016;18(12):363. doi: 10.1007/s11051-016-3683-8. Epub 2016 Dec 5.

Authors

Mohammad Aghazadeh Meshgi¹, Manfred Kriechbaum¹, Subhajit Biswas², Justin D Holmes², Christoph Marschner¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Graz University of Technology, Stremayrgasse 9, Graz, Austria.
² Materials Chemistry and Analysis Group, Department of Chemistry and the Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland ; AMBER@CRANN, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.

Abstract

The synthesis of size-monodispersed indium nanoparticles via an innovative simultaneous phase transfer and ripening method is reported. The formation of nanoparticles occurs in a one-step process instead of well-known two-step phase transfer approaches. The synthesis involves the reduction of InCl₃ with LiBH₄ at ambient temperature and although the reduction occurs at room temperature, fine indium nanoparticles, with a mean diameter of 6.4 ± 0.4 nm, were obtained directly in non-polar n-dodecane. The direct synthesis of indium nanoparticles in n-dodecane facilitates their fast formation and enhances their size-monodispersity. In addition, the nanoparticles were highly stable for more than 2 months. The nanoparticles were characterised by dynamic light scattering (DLS), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to determine their morphology, structure and phase purity.

Keywords: Colloidal solution; Indium; Monodisperse; Nanoparticle; Reduction synthesis; SAXS.