Abstract
In this work, we fabricated first-ever nanohybrids ZnO nanowires (ZnO-NWs)/Metallic Nanotube Arrays (MeNTA) structure for the large-scale fabrication of highly dense laterally and vertical aligned ZnO-NWs. To prepare heterogeneous surface MeNTA by using sputter-deposition of different metallic glasses (Zr55Cu30Al10Ni5, Cu47Zr42Al7Ti4, Pd72Cu12Si16, W50Ni25B25 and Ni54B0.3Si36Cr2.7Fe7) over on contact-hole arrays created by a photoresist template with 650 nm height and various diameter (2, 10 and 20 μm). A ZnO seed layer is deposited by sputtering method on MeNTA to provide the nucleation sites to grow the nanowires inside the MeNTA. To perform the material analysis like surface morphology, crystal structural, and optical properties were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman, XPS and photoluminescence, respectively. Our results confirm that, the nanowires having the hexagonal wurtzite structure and presenting strong UV emissions can be used in optoelectronics, sensors, piezoelectric-nanogenerator, solar cells and battery applications.
Highlights
Numerous methods have been developed to facilitate the fabrication of ZnO-NWs, including electro-chemical deposition,[13] physical vapor deposition,[14] pulsed laser deposition[15], chemical vapor deposition,[16] hydrothermal synthesis,[17, 18] and vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) methods,[19] using a variety of substrate materials
Hydrothermal synthesis is a straight forward scalable approach, which can be performed under atmospheric pressure at low temperatures (
In step 3, RF magnetron sputtering system was used for the sputter-deposition of Zr55Cu30Al10Ni5, Cu47Zr42Al7Ti4, Pd72Cu12Si16, W50Ni25B25 and Ni54B0.3Si36Cr2.7Fe7 Thin-film metallic glass (TFMG) coating over an as-prepared contact-hole photoresist template on the silicon substrates using an alloy target without substrate heating
Summary
ZnO-NWs are important n-type semiconductors with a wide bandgap of 3.37 eV, large surface-area-tovolume ratio, and high stability at room temperature due to high exaction energy (~60 meV).[1, 2] The versatility of ZnO-NWs makes them ideal electrode for piezoelectric nanogenerator, solar cells, photodetectors, sensors, light-emitting diodes, photo catalysts, field emitter and energy harvesting applications.[3,4,5,6,7,8,9] ZnO-NWs are biocompatibility, bio-safe non-toxicity, antibacterial, antimicrobial properties and physicochemical stability, for instance, ZnO-NWs coatings surface can provide an excellent application for medical equipment and surgical tools.[10,11,12] Numerous methods have been developed to facilitate the fabrication of ZnO-NWs, including electro-chemical deposition,[13] physical vapor deposition,[14] pulsed laser deposition[15], chemical vapor deposition,[16] hydrothermal synthesis,[17, 18] and vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) methods,[19] using a variety of substrate materials (inorganic, organic, crystalline and amorphous). The large-scale fabrication of ZnO-NWs is hindered by a number of factors.[20]. Some patterned growth strategies such as electron beam lithography is complex and expensive when operating at the micronanoscale, as a result of those kinds of technique and material limitation, fabrication of large scale patterned ZnO-NWs is a big challenge for the construction of micro/nano scale devices for various application.[24, 25]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
