Facile deposition of Cu2O/ZnO heterostructures on carbon fibers by plasma–liquid interaction toward enhanced piezoelectric performance

Abstract

In this study, a facile and effective approach for the preparation of Cu2O/ZnO heterostructures on flexible carbon materials to enhance the piezoelectric performance is reported. The Cu2O/ZnO heterostructures are deposited directly on carbon fibers (CFs) by a two-step method using plasma–liquid interaction strategy. The Cu2O microparticles are first deposited on the surface of CFs, and then, the ZnO nanostructures are grown on the surface of Cu2O microparticles and CFs. The as-prepared CFs show an improved piezoelectric response of d33 = 7.95 pm/V compared to intrinsic CFs (d33 = 2.64 pm/V), which is based on the nano-heterostructures principle. This work demonstrates a simple and feasible approach to prepare flexible carbon materials with enhanced piezoelectric performance, which may provide an ecologically friendly option for the deposition of semiconductor heterostructures.