Cover Feature: Substrate‐Enabled Room‐Temperature Electrochemical Deposition of Crystalline ZnMnO₃ (ChemPhysChem 1/2023)

Abstract

The Cover Feature illustrates the epitaxial growth of defective cubic spinel ZnMnO3 on the lateral facets of wurtzite ZnO nanowires via a room‐temperature, one‐step electrodeposition process from aqueous KMnO4 solution. A high interfacial area between the electroactive material and the electrolyte is facilitated by partial delamination of electrodeposited ZnMnO3 nanosheets. More information can be found in the Research Article by Thomas Berger and co‐workers.

Conformal Coverage of ZnO Nanowire Arrays by ZnMnO3: Room‐temperature Photodeposition from Aqueous Solution

“…Electrodeposited ZnO nanowires (Figures 1a and 2a) are hexagonal prisms with an average length of 700 � 200 nm and a diameter of 50 � 25 nm [31] and feature the hexagonal wurtzite structure. [31] Nanowires are elongated along the [0001] direction and are single crystals.…”

“…Electrodeposited ZnO nanowires (Figures 1a and 2a) are hexagonal prisms with an average length of 700 � 200 nm and a diameter of 50 � 25 nm [31] and feature the hexagonal wurtzite structure. [31] Nanowires are elongated along the [0001] direction and are single crystals. [31] Nanowire growth along the c-axis was attributed in previous studies to the preferential adsorption of negatively charged Cl À ions on high surface energy (0001) facets.…”

“…[31] Nanowires are elongated along the [0001] direction and are single crystals. [31] Nanowire growth along the c-axis was attributed in previous studies to the preferential adsorption of negatively charged Cl À ions on high surface energy (0001) facets. [32,33] Top view as well as cross section scanning electron micrographs of nanowire films were acquired before and after photodeposition.…”

“…It is well-known that crystalline matter features an enhanced electronic conductivity compared to amorphous matter. [39,41] [31] at E Ag/AgCl = 0.376 V (red) upon stepwise increase of the deposition time. The specific capacitance was extracted from the second, stabilized voltammogram.…”

“…On the other hand, photocorrosion will lead to surface roughening at an atomic level, which will impede epitaxial growth of extended nanostructures as previously observed in the case of bias-induced deposition. [31] High local concentrations of zinc precursor species, photogenerated electrons and permanganate will give rise to a high ZnMnO 3 formation rate. This together with the absence of atomically flat surfaces on photocorroding ZnO nanowires may therefore explain the formation of the unique ZnMnO 3 structure consisting of crystalline nanodomains embedded in a porous and amorphous matrix.…”