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Number Density and Diameter Control of Chemical Bath Deposition of ZnO Nanorods on FTO by Forced Hydrolysis of Seed Crystals
Author(s) -
Manthina Venkata,
Patel Tulsi,
Agrios Alexander G.
Publication year - 2014
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/jace.12819
Subject(s) - nanorod , tin oxide , chemical bath deposition , crystallite , chemical engineering , substrate (aquarium) , materials science , hydrolysis , aqueous solution , nanotechnology , chemical vapor deposition , deposition (geology) , doping , chemistry , thin film , organic chemistry , optoelectronics , paleontology , oceanography , sediment , geology , engineering , metallurgy , biology
ZnO nanorods have been studied extensively due to facile synthesis and useful optoelectronic properties for applications in nanoscale devices. In a common two‐step procedure, an ethanolic Zn 2+ precursor solution is used to deposit ZnO seed crystals on a substrate, which is then immersed in an aqueous Zn 2+ precursor solution to grow the nanorods. Here, a forced hydrolysis technique was employed based on additions of water and heat to the seed precursor solution before depositing the seeds on commercial fluorine‐doped tin oxide (FTO) /glass substrates. ZnO nanorods were then grown from these seeds by chemical bath deposition. Analyses showed that the forced hydrolysis resulted in an increase in seed crystallite size and a decrease in the number of seeds deposited. With increasing seed size, the number density of nanorods decreased, while the length and diameter of each rod increased. These findings offer a simple method for exerting control over the number density of ZnO nanorods that is compatible with the rough FTO surface, unlike other methods that require smoother substrates.