Preparation and characterization of electrodeposited Ag-doped ZnO inverse opals with a smooth surface

Abstract

Ag-doped ZnO inverse opal structures were prepared by electrochemical deposition using polystyrene colloidal crystal templates. The Ag-doped ZnO structures had granular morphology, but this morphology became smooth using a three-dimensional (3D) porous template in the same electrolyte. The Ag-doped ZnO structures were characterized using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and the lattice parameter was found to increase compared with undoped ZnO as verified by X-ray diffraction. Strong reflection photonic stop bands centered at 495 and 681 nm were detected from inverse opals templated from microspheres having diameters of 285 and 370 nm. The filling ratio of Ag-doped ZnO inverse opals using the template was lower than that of the uniform film growth of undoped ZnO. Moreover, photochemical cell analysis revealed that doped ZnO inverse opals with n- and p-type conductivities were successfully formed using electrolytes with different silver ion concentrations.