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Influence of polyvinylpyrolidone as an additive in electrochemical preparation of ZnO nanowires and nanostructured thin films
Author(s) -
Enculescu Ionut,
Matei Elena,
Sima Mariana,
Enculescu Monica,
Sima Marian,
Ghica Cornel
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.2749
Subject(s) - nanowire , materials science , nanotechnology , nanopore , polycarbonate , thin film , scanning electron microscope , electrolyte , electrochemistry , chemical engineering , deposition (geology) , nanostructure , ion track , membrane , electrode , ion , chemistry , composite material , organic chemistry , sediment , engineering , biology , paleontology , biochemistry
Preparation of ZnO in different nano‐morphological forms became a hot topic during the last few years. This tendency was motivated by the wide field of potential applications ranging from optics to electronics and spintronics. In the present work, we deal with the preparation of ZnO nanowires and nanostructured thin films using electrochemical deposition. ZnO nanowires were grown using the template approach, namely by replicating the nanopores of polycarbonate ion track membranes. The method yields uniform arrays of nanowires with the morphology controlled by the shape and size of the templates pores. Adding polyvinylpyrolidone as an additive in the growth bath became a necessity due to the fact that polycarbonate ion track membranes are usually hydrophobic and thus filling of the nanopores with the growth electrolyte is rather difficult. In order to better understand the influence of the additive on the electrochemical deposition of such nanostructures, similar experiments were performed for the deposition of ZnO thin films. Scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction and optical spectroscopy measurements were performed for characterization of the deposited structures. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.