Morphology, Structure, and Optical Properties of ZnO nanorods/Eosin-y Grown via Microwave-assisted Hydrothermal Method

Abstract

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) was a highly attractive semiconductor material because it has a lot of properties such as non-toxic oxide, a friend of the environment, and stability for biological and biomedical applications. ZnO nanoparticle was deposited on the FTO substrates using sol-gel and spin-coating techniques and microwave-assisted hydrothermal methods were used to grow ZnO nanorods (ZNRs) from the seed layer. After that, the surface of ZNRs was modified using organic Eosin-y dye with different concentrations (0.5, 1, and 3) mM to enhance the surface of ZNRs. The XRD patterns of the as-synthesized ZNRs were indicated that the wurtzite hexagonal structure and the diameter of ZNRs will be increased after coated with Eosin-y and the surface becomes rough. The ZNRs/Eosin-y adsorbed more than 50% incident light and the electronic properties of ZNRs/1mM Eosin-y were studied using Photoluminescence (PL) spectrum and the results proved that 1 mM was the optimum concentration of Eosin-y dye that lead to increase the defects which could be enhanced the properties of ZNRs surface.