Al-doped ZnO (AZO) nanoflowers and nanorods were successfully synthesized by a simple precipitation method in the presence of polyethylene glycol as the surfactant. The effect of Al dosage on the morphology and structure of AZO was investigated. The AZO was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy. It has been found that the morphology of as-prepared AZO nanostructures varies with varying Al dosage. AZO nanoflowers are assembled by nanorods with a diameter of 80–100 nm and a length of 1 μm. In the AZO nanoflowers and nanorods, Al3+ substitutes Zn2+ but does not change the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO. Moreover, the products were mixed into acrylic resin to generate AZO/acrylic resin composite coatings; and the heat insulation performance of the coatings was evaluated in relation to the function of the AZO fillers. The result shows that the coatings possess a certain degree of heat insulation performance.

Dendritic porous tin oxide/silica (DTS) nanospheres (NSs) were prepared by emulsion-condensation route. DTS NSs have an average diameter of 80 nm and possess accessible center-radial large pore channels, which endow them high surface area, less drug diffusion resistance and more mass transport. SnO2 quantum dots (QDs) embedded in silica skeleton can be used to track the drug release behavior. DTS NSs were coated by chitosan/polymethacrylic acid and polymer shell would make them achieve great loading capacity and pH-sensitive release for aminomethylbenzoic acid (AMBA).Download high-res image (113KB)Download full-size image