Structural and catalytic properties of ZnO and Al2O3 nanostructures loaded with metal nanoparticles

Nanostructured zinc oxide (ZnO) nanobelts and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) 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. Al2O3 nanostructures grew in the form of nanoribbons with an average width range of 20–30 nm and a length of up to 1 μm. The catalytic oxidation of CO gas into CO2 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 Al2O3 nanoribbons (100% conversion at 250 °C). The catalytic activity increased in the order Cu < Co < Au < Pd for the metal-loaded nanostructures. The preparation methods could be applied for the synthesis of novel nanostructures of various materials with novel properties resulting from the different shapes and morphologies.