title: Study of the growth of capped ZnO nanocrystals: a route to rational synthesis.
abstract: We report the study of complex and unexpected dependencies of nanocrystal size as well as nanocrystal-size distribution on various reaction parameters in the synthesis of ZnO nanocrystals using poly(vinyl pyrollidone) (PVP) as a capping agent. This method establishes a qualitatively different growth mechanism to the anticipated Ostwald ripening behavior. The study of size-distribution kinetics and an understanding of the observed non-monotonic behaviors provides a route to rational synthesis. We used a simple, but accurate, approach to estimate the size-distribution function of nanocrystals from the UV-absorption spectrum. Our results demonstrate the accuracy and generality of this approach, and we also illustrate its application to various semiconducting nanocrystals, such as ZnO, ZnS, and CdSe, over a wide size range (1.8-5.3 nm).
authors.affiliation: Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560012, India.
authors.forename: Ranjani
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Viswanatha
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Sarma