Journal of Nanomaterials
Volume 2011 (2011), Article ID 841701, 5 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/841701
Simple Synthesis and Luminescence Characteristics of PVP-Capped GeO2 Nanoparticles
State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China
Received 30 April 2010; Accepted 28 July 2010
Academic Editor: Quanqin Dai
Copyright © 2011 Wei Wu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-capped rutile GeO2 nanoparticles were synthesized through a facile hydrothermal process. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The capped GeO2 nanoparticles showed significantly enhanced luminescence properties compared with those of the uncapped ones. We attributed this result to the effect of reducing surface defects and enhancing the possibility of electron-hole recombination of the GeO2 nanoparticles by the PVP molecules. PVP-capped GeO2 nanoparticles have potential application in optical and electronic fields.