Preparation of Al-doped ZnO nanostructures and their application in acrylic resin-based heat insulation coatings

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) nanoflowers and nanorods were successfully synthesized by a simple precipitation method in the presence of polyethylene glycol as the surfactant. The effect of Al dosage on the morphology and structure of AZO was investigated. The AZO was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy. It has been found that the morphology of as-prepared AZO nanostructures varies with varying Al dosage. AZO nanoflowers are assembled by nanorods with a diameter of 80-100 nm and a length of 1 μm. In the AZO nanoflowers and nanorods, Al3+ substitutes Zn2+ but does not change the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO. Moreover, the products were mixed into acrylic resin to generate AZO/acrylic resin composite coatings; and the heat insulation performance of the coatings was evaluated in relation to the function of the AZO fillers. The result shows that the coatings possess a certain degree of heat insulation performance.