Microemulsion-mediated solvothermal synthesis and photoluminescent property of 3D flowerlike MnWO4 micro/nanocomposite structure

Novel three-dimensional (3D) flowerlike MnWO4 micro/nanocomposite structure has been successfully synthesized for the first time. The synthesized products were systematically studied by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. It is found that both reaction time and temperature have significant effects on the morphology of the products. It was proposed that the primary nanoparticles formed in microemulsions aggregated into nanosheets through the Ostwald ripening process, and then the assembly of the nanosheets led to the development of the 3D flowerlike MnWO4 micro/nanocomposite structures. Such a microemulsion-based solvothermal approach may be extended to fabricate complex 3D architectures of other materials. In addition, the photolumineseent property of the obtained MnWO4 crystals has also been investigated. (C) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.