Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO/ZnS Core/Shell Nanowires

Abstract

ZnO nanowires of approximately 3 µm length and 200 nm diameter are prepared and implanted vertically on substrate glass which is coated with thin layer of ITO which is too covered with bulk ZnO thin layer via electrodeposition process by cyclic voltammetry-chronoamperometry and with a chemical process that is described later; we have synthesized a ZnS nanolayer. ZnO/ZnS core/shell nanowires are formed by ZnO nanowires core surrounded by a very thin layer of porous ZnS shell principally constituted with a crystal which is about 15–20 nm in diameter. In the method, ZnS nanoparticles were prepared by reaction of ZnO nanowires with Na2S in aqueous solution at low temperature and also we have discussed the growth mechanism of ZnO/ZnS nanowires. The morphology, structure, and composition of the obtained nanostructures were obtained by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). For the structure, SEM and XRD measurements indicated that the as-grown ZnO nanowires microscale was of hexagonal wurtzite phase with a high crystalline quality, and TEM shows that the ZnS is uniformly distributed on the surface of the ZnO nanowires.