Fabrication of ZnO nanocomposites by picosecond laser ablation of zinc in tetrahydrofuran solution of thermoplastic polyurethane

Laser ablation of a Zn target in tetrahydrofuran with different concentrations of thermoplastic polyurethane was per- formed with picosecond pulses. The results of ultraviolet-visible absorption, photoluminescence emission and X-ray diffraction pattern indicated that ZnO nanocomposites were produced. The influence of pulse energy, polymer con- centration and argon degassing on production rate, size distribution and composite structure of nanocomposites were investigated. We tried to improve the control of size, agglomeration and composite structure of nanoparticles by polymer concentration and degassing with argon. The average particle diameters of nanocomposites which produced by 75µJ pulse energy in the liquid with 0.4 Wt% polymer concentration were in the range of 0.5 nm to 16 nm. The typical size of nanocomposites was decreased from 8 nm to 6 nm by 0.1 Wt% increasing in polymer concentration. In addition we could control agglomeration of nanocomposites by degassing with argon and increasing of polymer concentration up to 0.5 Wt%. We obtained maximum production rate by maximum laser pulse energy, 125 µJ. Po- lymer concentration and argon degassing were not effective in production rate.