Synthesis of cadmium oxide doped ZnO nanostructures using electrochemical deposition

Abstract

Ternary ZnCdO alloy semiconductor nanostructures were grown using electrochemical deposition. Crystalline nanostructures/nanorods with cadmium concentration ranging from 4 to 16 at% in the initial solution were electrodeposited on tin doped indium oxide (ITO) conducting glass substrates at a constant cathodic potential −0.9 V and subsequently annealed in air at 300 °C. X-ray diffraction measurements showed that the nanostructures were of wurtzite structure and possessed a compressive stress along the c-axis direction. The elemental composition of nanostructures was confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). ZnO nanostructures were found to be highly transparent and had an average transmittance of 85% in the visible range of the spectrum. After the incorporation of Cd content into ZnO the average transmittance decreased and the bandgap tuning was also achieved.