Electrochemically Controllable Growth and Tunable Optical Properties of Zn1−xCdxO Alloy Nanostructures

Abstract

Here we explore an electrochemical route to prepare ternary Zn 1-x Cd x O (0 < x < 0.15) rod-like nanoparticle aggregates in a solution of ZnCl 2 + CdCl 2 + KCl at a temperature of 75 °C. The longest rod-like nanoparticle aggregates of 10-15 μm can be achieved. X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) results demonstrated that Cd, Zn, and O elements existed in the deposits, and ternary Zn 1-x Cd x O compounds were obtained, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) analyses confirmed that these nanoparticles in Zn 1-x Cd x O rod-like nanoparticle aggregates were single-crystalline. The Zn 1-x Cd x O nanoparticle aggregate structures can lead to a blueshift of the UV emission peak compared with out-of-nanoparticles and nanorods. In addition, the luminescent experiment showed obvious a redshift in the ultraviolet emission with Cd substitution increasing in the Zn 1-x Cd x O rod-like nanoparticle aggregates. The visible emission band was not observed in photoluminescence spectra of Zn 1-x Cd x O rod-like nanoparticle aggregates, suggesting almost no point defect exists. The Zn x Cd 1-x O nanowire clusters can be routinely obtained when the electrochemical deposition was carried out in solution of Zn(NO 3 ) 2 + Cd(NO 3 ) 2 + citric acid. In addition, we also can successfully prepare Zn x Cd 1-x O nanobar and nanoparticle clusters when citric acid was replaced by tartaric acid and NaNO 3 , respectively.