Enhanced Photoluminescence of Europium-Doped TiO Nanoparticles Using a Single-Source Precursor Strategy.

TiO:Eu nanoparticles with varying europium concentrations were successfully synthesized via a one-pot sol-gel approach using a molecular heterometallic single-source precursor (SSP) Eu-Ti. For comparison, nanomaterials with similar europium levels were also produced by impregnating europium salts onto the same TiO substrate. All the nanomaterials were thoroughly characterized using Eu elemental analysis, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning (SEM), transmission (TEM), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL).

New Carbamoyl Surface-Modified ZrO Nanohybrids for Selective Au Extraction from E-Waste.

Efficient and selective extractions of precious and critical metal ions such as Au(III) and Pd(II) were investigated using zirconia nanoparticles surface modified with different organic mono- and di-carbamoyl phosphonic acid ligands. The modification is made on the surface of commercial ZrO that is dispersed in aqueous suspension and was achieved by optimizing the Bronsted acid-base reaction in ethanol/HO solution (1:2), resulting in inorganic-organic systems of ZrO-L (L: organic carbamoyl phosphonic acid ligand). The presence, binding, amount, and stability of the organic ligand on the surface of zirconia nanoparticles were confirmed by different characterizations such as TGA, BET, ATR-FTIR, and P-NMR.