Effects of Mg-contents and substrate parameters on structure and optical properties of Mg-doped ZnO nanorods fabricated by hydrothermal method

Mg-doped ZnO nanorods with different contents have been fabricated on various substrates by hydrothermal method. The effects of Mg-contents and different substrates on structural and optical properties are analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence (PL) spectra, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The results reveal that the Mg-doped ZnO nanorods possess good crystalline quality and morphology when the molar ratio of Mg/Zn is 1. The PL spectra show that the UV emissions have an obvious blue shift with the increase of Mg-content. The results of investigation for the samples grown on different substrates show that the crystal quality and morphology of the samples grown on ZnO layer are perfect, and the UV emission also occurs blue shift owing to the effects of different substrates.     

Preparation and characterization of MgO nanorods coated with SnO2

MgO nanorods have been grown by thermal evaporation of Mg3N2 powders on Si (100) substrates coated with gold (Au) thin films. The MgO nanorods grown on Al2O3 (0001) were 0.1-0.2 microm in diameter and up to a few tens of micrometers in length. MgO/SnO2 coaxial nanorods have also been prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) of SnO2 onto the nanorods. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis results indicate that the MgO-cores and the SnO2 shells of the annealed coaxial nanorods are of a single crystalline nature with cubic and orthorhombic structures, respectively. The photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy analysis results show that SnO2 coating slightly increases the PL emission intensity of MgO nanorods. The PL emission of the SnO2-coated MgO nanorods is found to be considerably enhanced by thermal annealing and to strongly depend on the annealing atmosphere. The PL emission intensity of the MgO/SnO2 coaxial nanorods has been significantly increased by annealing in a reducing atmosphere. The origin of the PL enhancement by annealing in a reducing atmosphere is discussed on the basis of energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses.     

A ZnO nanorod inorganic/organic heterostructure light-emitting diode emitting at 342 nm

An inorganic/organic heterostructure light-emitting diode consisting of the hole-transporting layer N, N'-di(naphth-2-yl)- N, N'-diphenylbenzidine (NPB) and n-type ZnO nanorods fabricated by hydrothermal decomposition is reported. Poly(methyl methacrylate) was used to form a smooth surface on top of ZnO nanorod array with ZnO nanorod tops exposed for subsequent NPB deposition. An unusual ultraviolet emission at 342 nm was observed in the electroluminescence spectrum. Compared to band gap energy of ZnO (3.37 eV), the excitonic emission is blue-shifted and broadened. The mechanism of the blue shift is discussed in terms of the energy band diagram of the heterostructure.     

ZnO纳米棒Al掺杂和A1,N共掺杂的制备技术与光致发光性能

采用水热法首先合成了Al掺杂ZnO(AZO)纳米棒,在此基础上通过550℃的氨气氛中退火制备了Al,N共掺杂ZnO(ANZ())纳米棒.运用X射线衍射(XRD),场发射扫描电镜(FESEM),透射电子显微镜(TEM),X射线能谱(EDS)和光致发光(PL)对样品进行了表征与分析.结果表明,制备的AZO和ANZ()纳米棒...     

Effect of reaction conditions on the morphology and optical properties of ZnO nanocrystals

We report a simple hydrothermal method at low temperature for synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods followed by ultrasonication. The samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–Vis absorption spectrophotometer and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The XRD results shows the prepared ZnO nanocrystals are in wurtzite structure. TEM results indicate the growth of ZnO nanorods with increasing reaction stirring time and morphology also get affected after ultrasonication. PL studies also reveal the presence of defects considered as the main reason for the green emission in PL with increasing reaction time and blue shift in UV emission corresponds to reduction of tensile strain.     

N-Type Field-Effect Transistors Using Multiple Mg-Doped ZnO Nanorods

Nanorod field-effect transistors (FETs) that use multiple Mg-doped ZnO nanorods and a SiO₂ gate insulator were fabricated and characterized. The use of multiple nanorods provides higher on-currents without significant degradation in threshold voltage shift and subthreshold slopes. It has been observed that the on-currents of the multiple ZnO nanorod FETs increase approximately linearly with the number of nanorods, with on-currents of ~1 muA per nanorod and little change in off-current (~4times10^-12). The subthreshold slopes and on-off ratios typically improve as the number of nanorods within the device channel is increased, reflecting good uniformity of properties from nanorod to nanorod. It is expected that Mg dopants contribute to high n-type semiconductor characteristics during ZnO nanorod growth. For comparison, nonintentionally doped ZnO nanorod FETs are fabricated, and show low conductivity to compare with Mg-doped ZnO nanorods. In addition, temperature-dependent current-voltage characteristics of single ZnO nanorod FETs indicate that the activation energy of the drain current is very low (0.05-0.16 eV) at gate voltages both above and below threshold     

Synthesis and fabrication of Mg-doped ZnO-based dye-synthesized solar cells

Undoped and 2, 4 and 6 at.% Mg-doped ZnO nanorods were successfully deposited on ZnO seeded fluorine tin oxide substrates by a simple chemical bath deposition technique to form a photoanode. It was seen that all the samples had a hexagonal wurtzite structure with compact rod morphology. From Tauc’s plot results, as compared to the undoped one (3.26 eV), the optical band gap of the ZnO:Mg samples increased to 3.32 eV for 4 at.% Mg-doping concentration and then decreased to 3.27 eV for 6 at.% Mg-doping. Photoluminescence results measured at 300 K indicated that ZnO nanorods had a ultra-violet peak with a wavelength of 382 nm, a blue peak at 420 nm and a deep level band in the range of 450–800 nm. Undoped and Mg-doped ZnO nanorods were subsequently used to realize ZnO-based dye-synthesized solar cells which exhibited the best power conversion efficiency of 0.144 % for 4 at.% ZnO:Mg sample.     

Influence of substrate temperature on ultraviolet emission of ZnO films prepared by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

ZnO films were deposited on MgO substrates (ZnO/MgO) by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. Substrate temperature varied from 200 to 350°C. The crystallographic properties and surface morphologies of the ZnO/MgO films were studied by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The properties of photoluminescence (PL) for the films were investigated by dependence of PL spectra on the substrate temperature and the ambient temperature. Ultraviolet (UV) emission peak (3.37 eV) was dominantly detected at 18 K, which sustained at 300 K with a reduced value of the peak energy. The ZnO/MgO films prepared at 350°C showed the strongest UV emission peak at 18 and 300 K among the films in this study.     

Effect of morphology in the photocatalytic degradation of methyl violet dye using ZnO nanorods

In the present work, high purity ZnO nanorods were synthesized by solid state reaction method at different annealing temperatures (250–400 °C). The structural, morphological and optical characteristic of the ZnO nanorods were studied. X-ray diffraction results confirmed that the ZnO nanorods have Wurtzite structure with high crystal quality. The grain size has increased from 23 to 27 nm with increasing temperature. The scanning electron microscopy and high resolution-transmission electron microscopy photographs showed the formation of ZnO nanorods. The bonding natures of the synthesized nanorods were analyzed by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy. The blue shift in the absorption edge was observed from the UV–Vis spectrum. The photoluminescence spectra showed two emission peaks corresponding to blue and red emissions. The photocatalytic performance of these nanorods was evaluated using methyl violet dye. The result showed that photocatalytic performance is highly depends on the morphology of the nanorods.     

A template-free alcoholthermal route to Ti(Sn)-doped ZnO nanorods

Ti(Sn)-doped single-crystalline ZnO nanorods with an average diameter of 20 nm and length up to nearly 1 μm were synthesized by a facile ultrasonic irradiation-assisted alcoholthermal method without involving any templates. Photoluminescence spectra of the Ti-doped ZnO nanorods were measured at room temperature and three emitting bands, being a violet emission at 400-415 nm, a blue band at 450-470 nm and a green band at around 550 nm, were detected. The emission intensities of the Ti-doped ZnO nanorods enhance gradually with increasing the doping concentrations. As to the Sn-doped ZnO nanorods, the green emission shifts to 540 nm and the emission intensities increase first but decrease later with increasing the doping concentrations.     

Photoluminescence and photoconductivity studies of ZnO nanoparticles prepared by solid state reaction method

In the present work, the effect of annealing temperature on the luminescence and photoconductivity properties of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) has been investigated. The ZnO NPs have been prepared at low temperature by a simple one step solid state reaction method using ZnSO₄·7H₂O as a starting precursor. X-ray diffraction results show, the prepared samples have a hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO NPs. FE-SEM reveals that the prepared ZnO nanoparticles have perfect spherical shape with little agglomeration. UV–visible absorption spectrum of as-prepared ZnO sample shows an absorbance peak at ~372 nm (~3.32 eV), which is blue shifted as compared to bulk ZnO (~386 nm). The annealed sample exhibits red shift of absorption peak. The photoluminescence spectra of as-prepared sample as well as annealed samples show one emission peak in UV region, and violet, blue, blue-green and green emissions in visible region. The sample annealed at 650 °C results in a significant reduction in luminescence as compared to that of the sample annealed at 450 °C. The photoconductivity properties such as voltage dependence of photocurrent, growth and decay of photocurrent as well as wavelength dependence of photocurrent have been studied in detail.     

Enhanced luminescence of Ag-decorated ZnO nanorods

Ag-decorated ZnO nanorods were synthesized by thermal evaporation of a mixture of ZnO and graphite powders at 900 °C followed by wet Ag coating and thermal annealing. The ZnO nanorods had a rod-like morphology with a relatively uniform width and length. The widths and lengths of the nanorods ranged from 50 to 300 nm and up to a few hundred micrometers, respectively. The diameters of the Ag particles on the nanorods ranged from 10 to 100 nm. The dependence of the photoluminescence properties of Ag-decorated ZnO nanorods on the postannealing atmosphere was examined. Annealing resulted in an increase and decrease in the near band edge (NBE) and deep level (DL) emission intensities of Ag-coated ZnO nanorods, respectively, whereas both the NBE and DL emission intensities of uncoated ZnO nanorods were increased by annealing. The intensity ratio of NBE emission to DL emission of the Ag-coated ZnO nanorods was increased ~15-fold by hydrogen annealing. The underlying mechanism for NBE emission enhancement and DL emission suppression of Ag-coated ZnO nanorods by postannealing is discussed based on the surface plasmon resonance effect of Ag.     

Enhanced and stable green emission of ZnO nanoparticles by surface segregation of Mg

The effects of Mg addition on the emission of green photons from ZnO nanoparticles were studied. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) data demonstrated that ZnO nanoparticles with surface segregation of MgO (ZnO:MgO) were precipitated from colloidal reactions between Zn(2+),Mg(2+) and OH(-) ions suspended in ethanol. The photoluminescence emission spectra showed stronger green emission from suspended ZnO:MgO versus ZnO nanoparticles. ZnO:MgO also exhibited a stable green emission colour, which was slightly red-shifted from 495 to 520?nm with 168 days of ageing. It was postulated that the presence of MgO on the surface of ZnO prevented both the aggregation of ZnO nanoparticles via electrostatic stabilization of the suspension, and the formation of non-radiative recombination states on the surface, resulting in more intense, stable photoemission from ZnO. The red shift of the green emission from suspended ZnO nanoparticles with extended ageing was attributed to filling of radiative surface trap states in the bandgap.     

Facile synthesis of zinc hydroxide carbonate flowers on zinc oxide nanorods with attractive luminescent and optochemical performance

A simple synthesis route was designed to fabricate a functional composite, zinc hydroxide carbonate (ZHC) flowers on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods. The hydrolysis of hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) can generate various species which are slowly released and gradually change reaction modes in a Zn(NO(3))(2)/HMT solution. As a result, ZnO nanorods and ZHC flowers can be sequentially synthesized and connect very well under constant experimental conditions. The obtained composite has the advantages of both components and exhibits attractive properties. For instance, ZHC flowers on ZnO nanorods exhibit strong blue emission under the excitation of ultraviolet light, and dye-sensitized solar cells with the annealed composite as photoanode achieve much higher conversion efficiency than pure nanorod arrays.     

Size-induced variations in lattice dimension, photoluminescence, and photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanorods

Highly crystalline ZnO nanorods with diameters ranging from 5 to 57 nm were prepared by a seed-mediated solution method. With a diameter reduction, the lattice volume of ZnO nanorods increased and c/a ratio decreased, in apparent contradiction to what was observed in spherical ZnO nanocrystals. All ZnO nanorods showed a strong yellow emission without the UV or green emissions that had been observed for ZnO nanostructures prepared by other methods. For larger diameters, the yellow emission exhibited an abnormal red shift, which was associated with the lattice variations in the nanoscale structure and the resulting band modifications. The size-induced band modifications were also confirmed by the photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanorods, which have an optimum diameter (approximately 30 nm) for the photodegradation of Rhodamine B dye solution.     

Sonochemical synthesis of nitrogen doped ZnO nanorods: effect of anions on growth and optical properties

Sonochemical synthesis of nitrogen doped zinc oxide (ZnO:N) nanorods using acetate and nitrate of the starting materials is reported. X-ray diffraction studies reveal the formation of hexagonal wurtzite phase of ZnO in both the cases whereas the crystallite size is found to be greater in acetate route. Precursor dependent growth process is observed as the time period for precipitation is found to be different with different starting materials. Electron microscopic studies show the formation of rod like structures of ZnO and ZnO:N in both acetate and nitrate routes. But, high aspect ratio and uniformity in the morphology of ZnO:N nanorods is observed in acetate route. High resolution images and selected area diffraction patterns of ZnO:N illustrate the nanorods to be c-axis oriented in both the cases. But in nitrate medium, the growth along [0001] direction is affected due to the adsorption of NO₃ ^? ions onto polar Zn²⁺ surface leading to smaller length of the nanorods. FTIR studies also support these results showing the existence of sharp N–O symmetric stretching in ZnO:N in nitrate route. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements show red shift of excitonic emission band for ZnO in acetate route.     

Photochemical properties of CeO2-coated ZnO nanorods

Well-aligned ZnO nanorods were deposited by a mild hydrothermal process and coated with nanosized CeO2 particles (approximately 5 nm) by an oxidative-soak-coating method at 45 degrees C. The low growth temperature proved useful in avoiding interfacial reaction between the two phases. Correlation of photoluminescence results indicated that the defects responsible for the deep level emission (DLE) from ZnO were largely located at the surface. The CeO2 coating reduced the DLE but also the photocatalytic activity as surficial hydroxyl groups were involved in the nucleation of the CeO2 phase and thus not available for absorption of the methylene blue species for degradation. Still, CeO2 coated ZnO nanorods retained their photocatalytic ability and could be useful as bifunctional catalyst to treat multiple contaminants simultaneously.     

A general combustion approach to multipod ZnO and its characterization

By a general approach of combustion oxidation at high temperature, multipod ZnO was synthesized without any catalysts or additives. The morphology and optical properties of the multipod ZnO were studied in detail. The growth mechanism was discussed preliminarily. An ultraviolet (UV) emission peak at 374 nm and a broad green emission peak centered at 502 nm are observed in photoluminescence spectrum of the multipod ZnO. The multipod structure exhibits significant enhancement of UV emission intensity and green light emission intensity compared with the tetrapod structure, which are attributed to less structural defects and increased surface area respectively. Furthermore, compared with nano-particle and micro-particle ZnO, UV emission peak of multipod ZnO appears a slight blue shift. Due to slim tips of the legs, quantum size effect cause a slight blue shift of UV emission peak. We believe that these optical properties of the multipod structure have extensive applications in nanoscale optical devices.     

Optical characterization of ZnO thin films deposited by Sol-gel method

In this paper, ZnO thin film is deposited on Pt/TiO₂/SiO₂/Si substrate using the sol-gel method and the effect of annealing temperature on the structural morphology and optical properties of ZnO thin films is investigated. The ZnO thin films are crystallized by the heat treatment at over 400°C. The ZnO thin film annealed at 600°C exhibits the greatest c-axis orientation and the Full-Width-Half-Maximum (FWHM) of X-ray peak is 0.4360°. A dense ZnO thin film is deposited by the growth of uniform grains with the increase of annealing temperature but when the annealing temperature increases to 700°C, the surface morphology of ZnO thin film becomes worse by the aggregation of ZnO particles. In the results of surface morphology of ZnO thin film using atomic force microscope (AFM), the surface roughness of ZnO thin film annealed at 600°C is smallest, that is, approximately 1.048 nm. For the PL characteristics of ZnO thin film, it is observed that ZnO thin film annealed at 600°C exhibits the greatest UV (ultraviolet) exciton emission at approximately 378 nm, and the smallest visible emission at approximately 510 nm among ZnO thin films annealed at various temperatures. It is deduced that ZnO thin film annealed at 600°C is formed most stoichiometrically, since the visible emission at approximately 510 nm comes from either oxygen vacancies or impurities.     

Annealing behaviors of SnO2-ZnO coaxial nanowires

SnO₂-core/ZnO-shell nanorods were prepared by using a two-step process comprising the thermal evaporation of Sn powders and the sputter-deposition of ZnO. It appeared that the shells were crystallized by annealing. Photoluminescence measurements showed that the orange emission of the SnO₂ nanorods was enhanced in intensity by sheathing them with ZnO and further enhanced by annealing them. A reducing atmosphere was more efficient in enhancing the orange emission by annealing than an oxidative atmosphere. The emission enhancement was mainly attributed to the increase in the Sn interstitial concentration in the SnO₂ cores during the annealing process in a reducing atmosphere.