Almamari Mohammed Rashid, Ahmed Naser M, Holi Araa Mebdir, Yam F K, Kyaw Htet Htet, Almessiere M A, Al-Abri Mohammed Z
Nanotechnology Research Center, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 17, Al Khoud, Muscat 123, Oman.
School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia.
Materials (Basel). 2022 Aug 24;15(17):5827. doi: 10.3390/ma15175827.
This study investigates the growth time effect on the structural, morphological, optical, and photoelectrochemical characteristics of highly oriented ZnO nanorod arrays (ZNRAs). The nanorod arrays were grown on ITO substrates using the unified sol-gel spin coating and hydrothermal techniques. ZnO nanoparticles (ZNPs) were synthesized using the sol-gel spin coating method. In contrast, the hydrothermal method was used to grow the ZnO nanorods. The hydrothermal growth time investigated was between 4 and 12 h. The synthesized ZNRAs were used as the photoanode electrodes to investigate their photoelectrochemical (PEC) electrode potency. The as-prepared ZNRAs were characterized using various analytical tools to determine their structures, morphologies, optical, and photoelectrochemical traits. EDX spectra showed the presence of uncontaminated ZnO chemical composition, and FTIR spectra displayed the various functional groups in the samples. A rod-shaped ZnO nanocrystallite with mean lengths and diameters of 300-500 nm and 40-90 nm, respectively, is depicted. HRTEM images indicated the nucleation and growth of ZNRAs with a lattice fringe spacing of 0.26 nm and a growth lattice planer orientation of [002]. The optimum ZNRAs (grown at 8 h) as photoelectrode achieved a photoconversion efficiency of 0.46% and photocurrent density of 0.63 mA/cm, that was 17 times higher than the one shown by ZNPs with Ag/AgCl as the reference electrode. Both values were higher than those reported in the literature, indicating the prospect of these ZNRAs for photoelectrode applications.
本研究调查了生长时间对高度取向的氧化锌纳米棒阵列（ZNRAs）的结构、形态、光学和光电化学特性的影响。使用统一的溶胶 - 凝胶旋涂和水热技术在ITO衬底上生长纳米棒阵列。通过溶胶 - 凝胶旋涂法合成氧化锌纳米颗粒（ZNPs）。相比之下，采用水热法生长氧化锌纳米棒。所研究的水热生长时间在4至12小时之间。合成的ZNRAs用作光阳极电极，以研究其光电化学（PEC）电极效能。使用各种分析工具对制备的ZNRAs进行表征，以确定其结构、形态、光学和光电化学特性。能谱（EDX）显示存在未受污染的氧化锌化学成分，傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）显示了样品中的各种官能团。描绘了一种棒状氧化锌纳米微晶，其平均长度和直径分别为300 - 500纳米和40 - 90纳米。高分辨率透射电子显微镜（HRTEM）图像表明ZNRAs的成核和生长，其晶格条纹间距为0.26纳米，生长晶格平面取向为[002]。作为光电极的最佳ZNRAs（在8小时生长）实现了0.46%的光转换效率和0.63 mA/cm的光电流密度，以Ag/AgCl作为参比电极时，该光电流密度比ZNPs高17倍。这两个值均高于文献报道的值，表明这些ZNRAs在光电极应用方面具有前景。
