title: Chemical stability of ZnO nanostructures in simulated physiological environments and its application in determining polar directions.
abstract: The in vitro chemical stability and etching of ZnO nanostructures in simulated physiological solution (SPS) were studied using electron microscopy. Calcium hydrogen phosphate thin layers were observed to be uniformly deposited on the surfaces of ZnO nanomaterials in SPS. Electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed that the calcium hydrogen phosphate layers were amorphous and had excellent interfacial contact with the nanocrystals. ZnO nanostructures fabricated by thermal evaporation were found to survive much longer in SPS than those fabricated using a hydrothermal solution method. The shapes of the voids formed in the ZnO nanostructures by the etching in SPS can be used to deduce the polar directions of ZnO nanostructures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and the Institute of Nano Science and Technology, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Renlong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Leng
authors.forename: Dapeng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D015034:Zinc Oxide