Needle-like ZnO nanorods (ZnO-NRs)/Ag nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) heterostructures with tunable silver contents have been successfully designed and constructed via a two-step hydrothermal approach on zinc foil. The as-fabricated heteroarchitectured composite was Ag-NPs with a size range about 30 to 50 nm in diameter assembled uniformly on the surface of needle-like ZnO-NRs, several micrometers long and about 480 nm wide near the half height of the nanorods. Through the variation of the reactant concentration such as silver nitrate, the silver content on the ZnO-NRs can be controllably tuned, which further greatly affected the photocatalytic performance of the decomposition of a representative dye pollutant of rhodamine B, and there is an optimum amount of secondary Ag-NPs. This facile method developed here also can be extended to construct other ZnO-based noble metal or semiconductor heterostructures on zinc substrates.

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Novel hierarchical heteronanostructures of ZnO nanorods/ZnS·(HDA)0.5 (HDA = 1,6-hexanediamine) hybrid nanoplates on a zinc substrate are successfully synthesized on a large scale by combining hydrothermal growth (for ZnO nanorods) and liquid chemical conversion (for ZnS·(HDA)0.5 nanoplates) techniques. The formation of ZnS·(HDA)0.5 hybrid nanoplates branches takes advantage of the preferential binding of 1,6-hexanediamine on specific facets of ZnS, which makes the thickening rate much lower than the lateral growth rate. The ZnS·(HDA)0.5 hybrid nanoplates have a layered structure with 1,6-hexanediamine inserted into interlayers of wurtzite ZnS through the bonding of nitrogen. The number density and thickness of the secondary ZnS·(HDA)0.5 nanoplates can be conveniently engineered by variation of the sulfur source and straightforward adjustment of reactant concentrations such as 1,6-hexanediamine and the sulfur source. The fabricated ZnO/ZnS·(HDA)0.5 heteronanostructures show improved electrochemical catalytic properties for hydrazine compared with the primary ZnO nanorods. Due to its simplicity and efficiency, this approach could be similarly used to fabricate varieties of hybrid heterostructures made of materials with an intrinsic large lattice mismatch.

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