Controlled hydrothermal synthesis of colloidal boehmite (γγ-AlOOH) nanorods and nanoflakes and their conversion into γγ- Al2O3 nanocrystals

We demonstrated here the hydrothermal synthetic method to controllably prepare colloidal γγ-AlOOH nanorods and nanoflakes by simply adjusting the pH value in the solution. These nanocrystals were further converted into γγ- Al2O3 nanorods and nanoflakes under calcining conditions. It is found that the as-prepared γγ- Al2O3 nanorods and nanoflakes can exhibit strong photoluminescent properties at room temperature. The present nanocrystals with distinctive size and shape features might open up promising applications in many fields.