We derive thermodynamic properties of ZnO nanoparticles from the reduction potential of Zn2+ ions in the nanocrystals. The reduction is carried out at a mercury (Hg) microelectrode prepared by electrodeposition of Hg on a Pt electrode of 10 micrometres in diameter following a method previously reported (Wehmeyer, K. R.; Wightman, R. M. Analytical Chemistry 1985, 57, 1989). The mercury microelectrode is used for the reduction of ZnO as shown in Figure 1. The figure is a schematic of the process where the Zn2+ in ZnO is reduced to a Zn(Hg) amalgam. The ultimate goal of this project is to use the data for electrochemical reduction of the ZnO nanoparticles to determine thermodynamic properties of the particles, with emphasis in the study of the size-dependence of thermodynamic properties down to the quantum size regime. In this presentation, we propose an approach to measure the electrochemical potential for the reduction of Zn2+ in ZnO. We discuss the dependence of the electrochemical potential for the reduction of Zn2+ and its dependence with the diameter of ZnO nanocrystals. The possibility of extending this method can also to different semiconductor nanoparticles will be discussed in the seminar.Figure 1.  Schematic representation of ZnO reduction.

Thermodynamic properties from reduction of zinc oxide nanocrystals

247th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.