• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.501-507
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• 2009

Ordered single-walled hollow aluminogermanate (ALGE) nano-balls(NBs) and nano-tubes(NTs) have been self-assembled from the ALGE precursors having an Al/Ge ratio of 1.33 using simple pH-control. The hollow ALGE NBs with average monodisperse diameters of 5 nm and chemistry of Al/Ge=1.5~1.6 were formed through structural assembly in the ALGE solution (Al/Ge=1.33) highly basified to pH=13(Na/Al=28~30) and followed by immediate acidification to pH=9. When the basified solution(pH=13) were acidified to pH=4, ALGE S-NTs (Short-fiber nano-tubes) with diameters of 3.3 nm, 15~20 nm in length, and chemistry of Al/Ge=2.6~2.8 were successfully synthesized. Whereas the solution was basified to pH=9, and subsequently acidified to pH=4, L-NTs(Long-fiber nano-tubes) with >100 nm in length were synthesized for the first time. The self-assembly of the hollow NBs, S-NTs, and L-NTs form the ALGE precursors can be explained by the degree of $H^+$-dissociation of the -Ge-OH inner surfaces, which was controlled by amount of $Na^+$ and pH conditions of ALGE precursor solutions. This results indicate that target forms of ALGE nanomaterials can be synthesized by simple pH controls.