Chemical reactions under autogenic pressure at elevated temperature to fabricate photo-luminescent Ga2O3 nanocrystals and their coatings

Nanocrystalline (<20 nm) gallium oxide coating on in situ formed amorphous carbon spheres is achieved by the controlled chemical reaction of gallium triacetylacetonate under autogenic pressure at elevated temperature (700 °C) in an inert atmosphere. The as-prepared nanocomposite was further heated to 500 °C for 1 h in an air atmosphere to produce neat Ga2O3 nanocrystals. The room temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurements confirmed that the neat Ga2O3 nanocrystals exhibited enhanced PL intensity compared to Ga2O3 nanocrystals coated on carbon spheres. Moreover, the diverse ability of the autogenic process to coat pristine stainless steel plate with micron sized (<1 μm) Ga2O3 particles is demonstrated. This is a noteworthy advancement in the field of nanofabrication processes. The methodical morphological, compositional and structural characterizations of the products are carried out and plausible mechanistic elucidation of their formation is reported.