8.0 MeV copper ion (Cu++) irradiation-induced effects on structural, electrical, optical and electrochemical properties of Co3O4-NiO-ZnO/GO nanowires

Abstract

Co3O4-NiO-ZnO/GO nanowires were fabricated with the addition of graphene oxide (GO) obtained by a modified Hummer’s method. Nanocomposite powder of Co3O4-NiO-ZnO/GO was synthesized using the hydrothermal method. Thin films of nanowires powder were deposited on glass substrates by a drop-casting method. The effect of copper ion irradiation on the monolayer of nanostructured Co3O4-NiO-ZnO/GO nanowires was studied. Copper ion (Cu++) of energy 8.0 MeV and doses of 2.25 × 1015, 5.0 × 1015, 7.25 × 1015 and 1.0 × 1016 ions/cm2 were irradiated on the nanostructured thin films. The variations on the properties of the films were analyzed with X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Proton induced x-ray emission (PIXE), Rutherford back scattering (RBS), Two point probe, Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results indicate that low doses of copper ion irradiation enhanced the properties of the nanowires while high doses induced structural defects and disorder to the Co3O4-NiO-ZnO/GO nanowires crystal structure, the level of defects increases with increasing of ion dose. Therefore, ions beam irradiation with low doses provides an encouraging technique for competent enhancement of properties of nanostructured Co3O4-NiO-ZnO/GO nanowires.