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

We demonstrated here the hydrothermal synthetic method to controllably prepare colloidal γ -AlOOH nanorods and nanoflakes by simply adjusting the pH value in the solution. These nanocrystals were further converted into γ - Al2O3 nanorods and nanoflakes under calcining conditions. It is found that the as-prepared γ - 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.