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An alternative low cost method was proposed for the low temperature (600 °C) preparation of CdTiO 3 nanoplates, using low-melting-point Cd(NO 3 ) 2 · 4H 2 O and high-reactive-activity TiO 2 nanocrystals as the reactants. The structure, composition, specific surface area, thermal stability and optical properties of the as-synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis, UV–vis absorption and room temperature photoluminescence spectra. The as-synthesized CdTiO 3 nanoplates were thermally stable at temperatures ≤ 900 °C, and their phase changed from ilmenite to perovskite when heated in air at 1000 °C for 2 h. Besides, they exhibited a strong and broad visible light emission in the range of about 470–750 nm upon laser excitation at 325 nm, enabling their use as a luminescent material.

A green method based on the reaction between hydrozincite (Zn 5 (CO 3 ) 2 (OH) 6 ) powder and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 , 30 wt.%) in aqueous solution at room temperature was developed for the synthesis of ZnO 2 nanoparticles. Results from X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and Raman demonstrated that the resultant products were pure cubic phase ZnO 2 nanoparticles, whose sizes were in the range of 3.1–4.2 nm. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated that between 180 and 350 °C, the as-synthesized ZnO 2 nanoparticles had a weight loss of about 16.7%, consistent with the theoretical amount (16.4%) of the O 2 released from ZnO 2 decomposition (ZnO 2 = ZnO + 1/2O 2 ). The present method was green, simple and cost-effective, which should be suitable for large-scale production of multifunctional ZnO 2 nanoparticles.