Synthesis and characterization of gallium oxide nanowires via a hydrothermal method

Single-crystalline gallium oxide hydroxide (GaOOH) nanowires could be successfully synthesized in large quantities through a hydrothermal synthetic method using gallium nitrate as the gallium source and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate as the surfactant. Gallium oxide α-Ga2O3 and β-Ga2O3 nanowires could be obtained by thermal decomposition method using gallium oxide hydroxide nanowires as the precursor. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, and photoluminescence (PL) were employed to characterize the resulting samples. Detailed results and possible mechanism are presented.