Lanthanide (Eu, Tb, La)-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Whey as an Eco-Friendly Chelating Agent
Carolina Picasso,
Yolanda Salinas,
Oliver Brüggemann,
Markus Clark Scharber,
Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci,
Olavo D. F. Cardozo,
Eriverton S. Rodrigues,
Marcelo S. Silva,
Andreas Stingl,
Patricia M. A. Farias
Affiliations
Carolina Picasso
Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Altenberger Straße 69, 4040 Linz, Austria
Yolanda Salinas
Institute of Polymer Chemistry (ICP), Johannes Kepler University Linz, Altenberger Straße 69, 4040 Linz, Austria
Oliver Brüggemann
Institute of Polymer Chemistry (ICP), Johannes Kepler University Linz, Altenberger Straße 69, 4040 Linz, Austria
Markus Clark Scharber
Linz Institute for Organic Solar Cells (LIOS), Physical Chemistry Institute, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Altenberger Straße 69, 4040 Linz, Austria
Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci
Linz Institute for Organic Solar Cells (LIOS), Physical Chemistry Institute, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Altenberger Straße 69, 4040 Linz, Austria
Olavo D. F. Cardozo
Post-Graduate Program on Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Pernambuco, Cidade Universitaria, Recife 50670-901, Brazil
Eriverton S. Rodrigues
Post-Graduate Program on Material Sciences, Federal University of Pernambuco, Cidade Universitaria, Recife 50670-901, Brazil
Marcelo S. Silva
Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Sertão Pernambucano, Salgueiro 56000-000, Brazil
Andreas Stingl
Phornano Holding GmbH, Kleinengersdorferstrasse 24, 2100 Korneuburg, Austria
Patricia M. A. Farias
Post-Graduate Program on Material Sciences, Federal University of Pernambuco, Cidade Universitaria, Recife 50670-901, Brazil
Strategies for production and use of nanomaterials have rapidly moved towards safety and sustainability. Beyond these requirements, the novel routes must prove to be able to preserve and even improve the performance of the resulting nanomaterials. Increasing demand of high-performance nanomaterials is mostly related to electronic components, solar energy harvesting devices, pharmaceutical industries, biosensors, and photocatalysis. Among nanomaterials, Zinc oxide (ZnO) is of special interest, mainly due to its environmental compatibility and vast myriad of possibilities related to the tuning and the enhancement of ZnO properties. Doping plays a crucial role in this scenario. In this work we report and discuss the properties of undoped ZnO as well as lanthanide (Eu, Tb, and La)-doped ZnO nanoparticles obtained by using whey, a by-product of milk processing, as a chelating agent, without using citrate nor any other chelators. The route showed to be very effective and feasible for the affordable large-scale production of both pristine and doped ZnO nanoparticles in powder form.
