Optoelectronic properties of ZnO nanorods thin films derived from chemical bath deposition with different growth times

Abstract

Controlling synthesis parameters to obtain the desired characteristics of ZnO nanostructures for various applications such as dye-sensitized solar cells, photocatalysis, lithium-ion batteries and sensors have been performed by many investigators. However, there has not been much research related to the suitable characteristics of ZnO nanorods required for a transparent heating application combining low resistivity and high optical transparency. Therefore, this study was aimed at investigating the effect of different growth time on the optoelectronic properties of ZnO nanorods thin films. For investigation purposes, ZnO nanorods were grown on the ITO glass substrates using a chemical bath deposition process with three different growing times, i.e., 3, 4, and 5 hours, where the seeds solution were prepared by dissolving 1:1 equimolar Zn(NO3)2.6H2O and C6H12N4 at room temperature for 1 hour. The results showed that increased growth time effectively reduced the electrical resistivity of ZnO nanorods from 0.882×10-4 to 0.826×10-4 Ω.cm. However, its optical transparency decreased from 60.01% to 30.95%, which was expected as a consequence of the increase in ZnO nanorod coverage on the substrates. The results of the investigation showed that the resulting ZnO nanostructure in this work is a potential candidate for transparent heater purposes.