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Single Step Growth and Characterization of Zinc Oxide, Tin Oxide, and Composite (Zn x Sn 1−x O y ) Nanoplate and Nanocolumn Electrodes
Author(s) -
Dharmadasa Ruvini,
Tahir Asif A.,
Wijayantha K. G. Upul
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2011.04525.x
Subject(s) - materials science , zinc , electrode , tin oxide , tin , band gap , oxide , chemical engineering , chemical vapor deposition , metal , nanoparticle , nanotechnology , analytical chemistry (journal) , optoelectronics , metallurgy , chemistry , chromatography , engineering
The demand for nanostructured metal oxide electrodes in optoelectronic devices requires investigation of simple and scalable deposition processes. In this study we demonstrate the flexibility of aerosol‐assisted chemical vapor deposition to fabricate single and mixed oxide electrodes. The composition, structure, and morphology can easily be controlled by varying the Zn:Sn ratio of the precursor solution. X‐ray diffractometric analysis proved that the structure and composition were strongly dependent on the Zn concentration in the precursor. ZnO, SnO 2 , and a range of ZnO/SnO 2 composite electrodes were fabricated by gradually decreasing the Zn content in the precursor solution. A diverse range of nanostructures were also created as the Zn:Sn ratio was varied. The morphology of the electrodes changed from nanoparticles, to nanoplates and nanocolumns with the change in the Zn:Sn ratio. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy confirmed the high optical absorption of the materials in the UV region. It was found that by controlling the Zn:Sn ratio of the precursor, the optical properties of the electrodes could be finely tuned between the bandgap ( E g ) of ZnO ( E g ∼3.31 eV) and SnO 2 ( E g ∼3.55 eV).