DOI: 10.3390/nanoenergyadv6030019 ISSN: 2673-706X

Low-Temperature Aqueous Synthesis of β-Ga2O3 Nanoparticles in Pulsed Discharge Plasma Bubbles

James Ho, Chelsea M. Mueller, Sikder A. Ayon, Shoshanna Peifer, Matthew Hershey, Xiaobing Hu, George C. Schatz, Dayne F. Swearer

We report a low-temperature plasma–liquid synthesis of crystalline β-Ga2O3 nanoparticles directly from aqueous solution. Pulsed discharge plasma bubbles generate reactive species that drive in situ dehydration and crystallization, bypassing the high-temperature calcination required by conventional methods. By varying the carrier gas, we tune morphology from uniform nanorice structures (He, Ar, and N2) to amorphous microspheres (O2 and air), revealing how plasma composition governs interfacial hydroxyl radical chemistry and growth kinetics. This approach demonstrates that localized plasma heating and reactive-species flux can achieve phase-selective oxide crystallization under ambient conditions, establishing plasma bubble reactors as a broadly applicable, low-temperature route for direct aqueous synthesis of crystalline wide-bandgap oxides that bridge solution chemistry and plasma nanomaterials design.

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