Hierarchical ZnO Nanostructure on Steel Substrate by Electrochemical Deposition

Abstract

In this paper we use electrochemical deposition to grow a layer of gray compact film on the steel, characterized the product by X-ray diffraction (XRD) we find the ZnO cone-like rods and hierarchical rod-like nanostructure are all preferentially growing along the C-axis, which is confirmed by the direction of crystal growth in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) image. In the TEM image we find the hierarchical ZnO nanorods have an in situ growth in the high-energy electron beam irradiation, which makes the specific surface area increase and to some extent enhance the absorption of light energy.