Effects of Substrate Type on the Morphology and Optical Properties of ZnO Nanorods Grown via Chemical Bath Deposition

Abstract

In this study, zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO NRs) were prepared through chemical bath deposition using glass and fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates, and their crystalline structure was investigated through X-ray diffraction. Results showed that the prepared ZnO NRs had wurtzite structure and grew along the [002] orientation, and ZnO NRs grown on the FTO substrate was more crystalline than those grown on the glass substrate. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy images showed that the glass sample had rod-like morphology and uniform distribution with 95 nm diameter and average length of approximately 980 nm, whereas the FTO-coated glass had 110 nm diameter and average length of approximately 1000 nm. The direct transition optica1 band gaps of the glass and FTO-coated glass samples were 3.28 and 3.97 eV, respectively.