Alignment, morphology and defect control of vertically aligned ZnO nanorod array: Competition between "surfactant" and "stabilizer" roles of the amine species and its photocatalytic properties

Kugalur Shanmugam Ranjith, Ramanathaswamy Pandian, Enda McGlynn, Ramasamy Thangavelu Rajendra Kumar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

We demonstrate effective control of the morphology, defect content and vertical alignment of ZnO nanorod (NR) arrays grown by a solution method by simply varying the hexamine concentration during growth. We show that the amine acts both as a growth 'stabilizer' and 'surfactant' and controls both Zn release for ZnO formation and caps non-polar planes, respectively. Competition between these 'stabilizer' and 'surfactant' roles facilitates morphology, alignment and defect content control of 1D ZnO NR arrays. Well aligned, prismatic, defect (Zn interstitial) controlled ZnO NR arrays grown with a 1M amine concentration show higher photocatalytic degradation of Methylene Blue dye solutions under UV irradiation. Shallow donor zinc interstitials readily supply electrons which may increase the space charge near the nano-catalyst surface. The increased band bending associated with the interfacial electric field in the space charge region may then better facilitate the separation of photogenerated carriers and thus enhance the photocatalytic performance. Understanding the role of amine in the solution growth of 1D ZnO NR arrays holds great promise for tailoring ZnO NR functionalities for various potential applications.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2873-2879
Number of pages7
JournalCrystal Growth and Design
Volume14
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 4 Jun 2014

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Alignment, morphology and defect control of vertically aligned ZnO nanorod array: Competition between "surfactant" and "stabilizer" roles of the amine species and its photocatalytic properties'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this