Photonic crystals in biology

Poster Session, Tuesday, June 15
Theme A1 - B702
Additive Free Synthesis of Aluminum Oxide Nanostructures
F.M.Al-Marzouki 1 and M. A. Shah 1 *
Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, King Abdu l Aziz University,
Jeddah 21589, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
1
Abstract- Water which is well known inexpensive and an environmentally benign solvent have been used for the synthesis of aluminum oxide
(Al 2 O 3 ) nanostructures. We will present an economical and bio-compatible synthesis of aluminum oxide nanorods at very low temperature of
~180 o C without using any additives or surfactants. This is the first report where nanostructures of Al2O3 have been prepared at such a low
temperature and by such a simple technique. The formation of Al 2 O 3 structures by the reaction of metals with DI water is suggested to occur due
to the oxidation of aluminum in presence of water. The reported method besides being organics free is economical, fast and free of
pollution, which will make it suitable for large scale production.
Innovations at the intersection of medicine, biotechnology,
engineering, physical sciences and information technology
are spurring new directions in R&D, commercialization and
technology transfer. The future of nanotechnology is likely
to continue in this interdisciplinary manner.
Nanotechnology is the next industrial revolution, and all
most all industries will be radically transformed by it in a
few years. Ceramics are regarded as versatile materials and
aluminum oxide (Al2O 3 ), one of the ceramic materials
commonly known as sapphire is known to exist in a number
of metastable polymorphs in addition to the
-Al 2 O 3 or corundum form.
-Al 2 O 3
is an important form of alumina
because of its porous structure and high catalytic surface
activity. This material has been widely used as catalysts, an
adsorbent and as a support for industrial catalysis in
hydrocarbon conversion. Owing to their brittleness, ceramics
have been regarded as materials of modest performance
especially under tension or bending conditions [1].
A number of synthetic routes including, the sol-gel
chemistry, spray pyrolysis, precipitation, solovothermal and
physical methods are being extensively used for the
synthesis of Al2O 3 nanostructures [2,3]. The other
techniques are technically complex, requires high
temperature, harsh growth conditions, expensive
experimental setup, complicated control processes and use of
excessive organics/amines. Seeking a simple approach for
low cost, lower temperature, larger scale production and
controlled growth without additives is desired [4].
To this end, we present a novel and simple method for
-A l 2 O 3 nanorods without catalysts or any
other additive. The route is based on a simple reaction of
aluminum powder and double distilled water at 180 o C
without using any catalyst or any other additive. Moreover,
the synthesis time is very short and the morphology could be
controlled by varying reaction time. The aim of the study is
to provide the feasibility of the simple route for the
preparation of aluminum oxide nanostructures. Systematic
studies are underway and will be presented during
conference.
Corresponding author: 0Tmashahnit@yahoo.com
[1] Fang X, Zhang L. J. Mater. Sci. Tech.22, 1 (2006).
[2] Y.Z Jin, Y.Q Zhu, K Brigatt, H. Kroto, D.R.M Waltan, Appl.
Phys. A 89, 1008 (2003).
[3] X.S.Fang, C.H.Ye, L.D.Zhang, T. Xie Adv. Mater 17 (2005)
1661
[4] M.A.Shah and A.M. Asiri, Int. J. Modern Phy. B, Vol. 23, 2323
(2009).
6th Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Conference, zmir, 2010 213