SYNTHESIS OF ZnO NANOTUBE ARRAYS BY ANNEALING Zn NANOWIRE ARRAYS IN ANODIC ALUMINA MEMBRANE

Abstract

Uniform and aligned ZnO nanotube arrays have been synthesized by annealing Zn nanowire arrays in anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane. In our method, Zn nanowire arrays were fabricated by electrochemical deposition technique based on ordered nanoporous AAO, and then a heat-treatment method was used to convert Zn nanowire arrays to ZnO nanotube arrays. The ZnO arrays were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and absorption spectra. The results show that the polycrystalline ZnO nanotubes have a diameter of about 45 nm. This method can also be used to fabricate other metal oxide nanotube arrays.