Rhodamine B Doped ZnO Monodisperse Microcapsules: Droplet-Based Synthesis, Dynamics and Self-Organization of ZnO Nanoparticles and Dye Molecules
In the present work, droplet-based microfluidics and sol-gel techniques were combined to synthesize highly monodisperse zinc oxide (ZnO) microspheres, which can be doped easily and precisely with dyes, such as rhodamine B (RhB), and whose size can be finely tuned in the 10–30 μm range. The as-synthe...
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doaj-f88f3239fa98453d8833dd9f78b582d22020-11-28T00:00:23ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912020-11-01102351235110.3390/nano10122351Rhodamine B Doped ZnO Monodisperse Microcapsules: Droplet-Based Synthesis, Dynamics and Self-Organization of ZnO Nanoparticles and Dye MoleculesNajla Ghifari0Bertrand Cinquin1Adil Chahboun2Abdel I. El Abed3Laboratoire Lumière Matière et Interfaces (LuMIn), Institut d’Alembert, Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris Saclay, CentraleSupélec, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, 61 avenue du Président Wilson, 94235 Cachan, FranceInstitut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, IPGG, UMS 3750, 6 rue Jean Calvin, 75005 Paris, FranceLaboratoire des Couches Minces et Nanomatériaux (CMN), FST Tanger, Université Abdelmalek Essaadi, Tangier 90040, MoroccoLaboratoire Lumière Matière et Interfaces (LuMIn), Institut d’Alembert, Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris Saclay, CentraleSupélec, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, 61 avenue du Président Wilson, 94235 Cachan, FranceIn the present work, droplet-based microfluidics and sol-gel techniques were combined to synthesize highly monodisperse zinc oxide (ZnO) microspheres, which can be doped easily and precisely with dyes, such as rhodamine B (RhB), and whose size can be finely tuned in the 10–30 μm range. The as-synthesized microparticles were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and confocal microscopy. The results reveal that the microspheres exhibit an excellent size monodispersity, hollow feature, and a porous shell with a thickness of about 0.6 μm, in good agreement with our calculations. We show in particular by means of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) analysis that the electric charges carried by ZnO nanoparticles primary units play a crucial role not just in the formation and structure of the synthesized ZnO microcapsules, but also in the confinement of dye molecules inside the microcapsules despite a demonstrated porosity of their shell in regards to the solvent (oil). Our results enable also the measurement of the diffusion coefficient of RhB molecules inside the microcapsules (<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi>D</mi><mrow><mi>R</mi><mi>h</mi><mi>B</mi></mrow></msub><mo>=</mo><mn>3.8</mn><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>8</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> cm<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><msup><mrow></mrow><mn>2</mn></msup></semantics></math></inline-formula>/s), which is found two order of magnitude smaller than the literature value. We attribute such feature to a strong interaction between dye molecules and the electrical charges carried by ZnO nanoparticles. These results are important for potential applications in micro-thermometry (as shown recently in our previous study), photovoltaics, or photonics such as whispering gallery mode resonances.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/12/2351ZnO nanocrystalsmicrocapsulesdroplet microfluidicscolloidal aggregationmeso-crystallisation |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Najla Ghifari Bertrand Cinquin Adil Chahboun Abdel I. El Abed |
spellingShingle |
Najla Ghifari Bertrand Cinquin Adil Chahboun Abdel I. El Abed Rhodamine B Doped ZnO Monodisperse Microcapsules: Droplet-Based Synthesis, Dynamics and Self-Organization of ZnO Nanoparticles and Dye Molecules Nanomaterials ZnO nanocrystals microcapsules droplet microfluidics colloidal aggregation meso-crystallisation |
author_facet |
Najla Ghifari Bertrand Cinquin Adil Chahboun Abdel I. El Abed |
author_sort |
Najla Ghifari |
title |
Rhodamine B Doped ZnO Monodisperse Microcapsules: Droplet-Based Synthesis, Dynamics and Self-Organization of ZnO Nanoparticles and Dye Molecules |
title_short |
Rhodamine B Doped ZnO Monodisperse Microcapsules: Droplet-Based Synthesis, Dynamics and Self-Organization of ZnO Nanoparticles and Dye Molecules |
title_full |
Rhodamine B Doped ZnO Monodisperse Microcapsules: Droplet-Based Synthesis, Dynamics and Self-Organization of ZnO Nanoparticles and Dye Molecules |
title_fullStr |
Rhodamine B Doped ZnO Monodisperse Microcapsules: Droplet-Based Synthesis, Dynamics and Self-Organization of ZnO Nanoparticles and Dye Molecules |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rhodamine B Doped ZnO Monodisperse Microcapsules: Droplet-Based Synthesis, Dynamics and Self-Organization of ZnO Nanoparticles and Dye Molecules |
title_sort |
rhodamine b doped zno monodisperse microcapsules: droplet-based synthesis, dynamics and self-organization of zno nanoparticles and dye molecules |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Nanomaterials |
issn |
2079-4991 |
publishDate |
2020-11-01 |
description |
In the present work, droplet-based microfluidics and sol-gel techniques were combined to synthesize highly monodisperse zinc oxide (ZnO) microspheres, which can be doped easily and precisely with dyes, such as rhodamine B (RhB), and whose size can be finely tuned in the 10–30 μm range. The as-synthesized microparticles were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and confocal microscopy. The results reveal that the microspheres exhibit an excellent size monodispersity, hollow feature, and a porous shell with a thickness of about 0.6 μm, in good agreement with our calculations. We show in particular by means of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) analysis that the electric charges carried by ZnO nanoparticles primary units play a crucial role not just in the formation and structure of the synthesized ZnO microcapsules, but also in the confinement of dye molecules inside the microcapsules despite a demonstrated porosity of their shell in regards to the solvent (oil). Our results enable also the measurement of the diffusion coefficient of RhB molecules inside the microcapsules (<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi>D</mi><mrow><mi>R</mi><mi>h</mi><mi>B</mi></mrow></msub><mo>=</mo><mn>3.8</mn><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>8</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> cm<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><msup><mrow></mrow><mn>2</mn></msup></semantics></math></inline-formula>/s), which is found two order of magnitude smaller than the literature value. We attribute such feature to a strong interaction between dye molecules and the electrical charges carried by ZnO nanoparticles. These results are important for potential applications in micro-thermometry (as shown recently in our previous study), photovoltaics, or photonics such as whispering gallery mode resonances. |
topic |
ZnO nanocrystals microcapsules droplet microfluidics colloidal aggregation meso-crystallisation |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/12/2351 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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