Synthesis of zinc phosphate and zinc ammonium phosphate nanostructures with different morphologies through pH control

• α-Zn3(PO4)2·4H2O nanostructures were synthesized by microwave-assisted chemical method.
• The morphology of the samples was related to the pH value in the reaction system.
• The zinc phosphate crystals follow the preferred orientation growth and self-assembly mechanisms.
• The generated Dy3 +-doped zinc phosphate exhibited good fluorescence performance.

In this work, morphologically different zinc phosphate (α-Zn3(PO4)2·4H2O) nanostructures were synthesized from single crystalline nanosheets in an aqueous solution via a simple surfactant and template-free microwave-assisted sono-chemical method. The morphologies of crystalline α-Zn3(PO4)2·4H2O were controlled through adjustments in the pH values in the reaction system. Plate-like samples with an average thickness of 0.1–1.8 μm and flower-like samples with an average size of 8.8–11.0 μm were obtained at pH ≤ 3.5 and pH ≥ 4.0, respectively. Furthermore, different growth orientation profiles were shown between the two samples with these morphologies. When the pH was set between 6.0 and 7.0, flower-shaped, bicone-shaped and prismatic-shaped zinc phosphate crystals were obtained. Zinc ammonium phosphate nanowires were obtained when the pH = 10.0. The generated Dy3 +-doped zinc phosphate exhibited good fluorescence performance.

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