The benzyl alcohol route: An elegant approach towards doped and multimetal oxide nanocrystals

In this article, the versatility and the potential of the benzyl alcohol route for the synthesis of multimetal and doped metal oxides are highlighted in the first part of the manuscript. Among the presented examples, some materials have not been accessible by other solution syntheses and could so far only be obtained through solid state reactions. The second part describes the synthesis and characterization of 5-6 nm ZnAl2O4 nanoparticles which form flower-like aggregates through the oriented attachment crystallization mechanism.