Abstract
Linear Polyethyleneimine (LPEI) has been successfully employed to prepare silica nano fibers (SNF). The varied morphologies of crystalline LPEI can be easily changed by controlling the cooling rate of hot LPEI aggregates, which leads to the formation of SNF-based different microstructures containing LPEI inside. The aqueous zinc ions were easily inserted into the well-structured SNF via the coordination interactions between LPEI included on the SNF and Zn2+ions. After sintered the Zn2+ions-captured SNF at about 773K, the thermally stable nano ZnO particles sized at 1-5 nm were formed in the resulting composite of ZnO@SNF, which has a strong and wide-ranged PL emission from 380 nm to 600 nm under an irradiation of UV light (360 nm).
