Hierarchical Route for the Fabrication of Cavitand-Modified Nanostructured ZnO Fibers for Volatile Organic Compound Detection

• Published in: Journal of physical chemistry. C 2016-06, Vol.120 (23), p.12611-12617
• Main Authors: Tudisco, Cristina, Fragalà, Maria Elena, Giuffrida, Antonino E, Bertani, Federico, Pinalli, Roberta, Dalcanale, Enrico, Compagnini, Giuseppe, Condorelli, Guglielmo G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1932-7447; 1932-7455
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b03502

A hierarchical hybrid inorganic–organic system suited for the recognition of aromatic volatile organic compounds on brushlike ZnO fibers was synthetized. The hybrid material was obtained by a multistep approach based on the growth of ZnO nanorods onto electrospun ZnO fibers (average diameter 200 nm). The obtained nanostructured ZnO brushlike fibers (overall diameter 2 μm) were functionalized through the grafting of a bifunctional phosphonic linker (12-azidododecylphosphonic acid) followed by the anchoring of a specific cavitand receptor. The linker was anchored on ZnO fibers through the phosphonic group while the azide terminations reacted with a quinoxaline-bridged cavitand (QxCav) having four alkyne groups via “click” reaction. The anchoring steps were monitored through the evolution of the FT-IR features in the 3200–2800 cm–1 region due to C–H x stretches and in the 2200–2000 cm–1 region due to the azide and alkyne groups of the phosphonic linker and QxCav. The recognition properties of this hybrid nanostructure toward α,α,α-trifluorotoluene vapors were evaluated by XPS and Raman measurements.