Controlled Synthesis And Properties Of Quasi-One-Dimensional ZnO Nanomaterials

Quasi-one-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials, including nanowires (rods), nanoneedles, nanobelts, nantubes/nanocables, etc, are attracting considerable attention recently. Among these materials, functional oxide semiconductor nanostructures can be used as fundamental ingredients of smart systems, because their physical and chemical properties can be tuned through adjusting cation valence state and anion deficiency. Although the research of 1D oxide semiconductor nanomaterials has already made considerable progress, it still remains a significant challenge to achieve controlled synthesis of desired morphologies, components, and structures, which is the foundation and prerequisite for the applications of nanomaterials. The main contents and conclusions, focusing on the controlled synthesis and optical properties of ZnO 1D nanomaterials, are summarized as:1. Controlled synthesis and properties of well-aligned ZnO arraysWe proposed a new vapor method — carrier-gas-free method for growing of well-aligned ZnO nanorod arrays whose X-ray diffraction rocking curve show about ±1° alignment distribution. This result is also better than the alignment of the polycrystalline ZnO thin film substrate. The nanorods are c-axis oriented growth. By controlling the growth parameters, we obtained the nanorod array evolution at different growth stages. Besides the length of the nanorods increase rapidly, the diameter also increase clearly, especially at the initial growth stage. The density of the nanorods decrease with the growth of the nanorods due to the merging of the adjacent nanorods, which is directly confirmed by the imprints of the merging on the top surfaces of nanorods. The diameters of the nanorod arrays vary from 20～500 nm and the length 100 nm to more than 20 μm at different growth stages. The lattice-matched substrate and carrier-gas-free method play important roles in...