Crystallographic Orientation-Aligned ZnO Nanorods Grown by a Tin Catalyst

Abstract

Well-aligned ZnO nanorods with identical crystallographic orientation have been synthesized using a vapor transport deposition process. Orientation-ordered nanorods grow normal to the c planes of the as-deposited micrometer-sized ZnO rods on a polycrystalline Al 2 O 3 substrate, and each nanorod is along [0001] and enclosed by {21 h1 h0} facet surfaces. The nanorods remain in an identical crystal orientation with a homoepitaxial orientation relationship with the microrod. During the synthesis, reduced Sn from SnO 2 powder added to the source materials functions as a catalyst, guiding the orientation-aligned growth of ZnO nanorods. By controlling the growth time at high temperature, uniform lengths of aligned nanorods have been received. This work demonstrates that metallic Sn could be a good candidate for catalyzing the growth of 1D nanostructures.

Growth of Ultralong ZnS/SiO2 Core−Shell Nanowires by Volume and Surface Diffusion VLS Process

“…24,32 Studies on Sn-catalyzed ZnO 1D nanostructures indicate that the crystalline and electronic structures of the substrate, nanostructure, and catalyst particle can all play a role in determining the nature of the final growth product. 33,34 In the case of gold-catalyzed ZnS, Si, and SiO 2 1D nanostructures, much has been written regarding possible formation mechanisms specific to synthesized products. In the examination of the wealth of literature on these structures, some general trends can be identified.…”

Piezoelectricity in ZnO nanowires: A first-principles study

“…In particular, ZnO nanowires with relatively simple structures are important one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures. Experimentally, the group of Wang had synthesized well-aligned [0001] ZnO nanowires enclosed by facet {1010} surfaces [10,11]. Room-temperature ultraviolet lasing [12] and piezoelectric nanogenerators based on ZnO nanowire arrays have been demonstrated [13].…”

ZnO Nanorods Arrays and Heterostructures for the High Sensitive UV Photodetection

“…Wagner & Ellis (Wagner & Ellis, 1964) first reported this mechanism in the 1960s to produce micrometer-sized wires, later justified thermodynamically and kinetically by Givargizov in 1975(Givargizov, 1975. In the early twenty-first century, this mechanism is extensively explored by several research groups worldwide to prepare nanowires and NRs from a rich variety of inorganic materials (Wu & Yang, 2000;Zhang et al, 2001;Wu & Yang, 2001;Gudiksen & Lieber, 2000;Wu et al, 2002b;Duan & Lieber, 2000;Pan et al, 2001;Gao et al, 2003;Chen et al, 2001;Wang et al, 2002b). The VLS growth mechanism is practically demonstrated by Yang group (Wu & Yang, 2001) with the help of in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques by monitoring the VLS growth mechanism in real time.…”

“…From analysis, they claimed that the Au catalyst particles were solid during growth, and that growth proceeded by a surface diffusion process, rather than a bulk diffusion process. ZnO NRs are also grown successfully on the Si (100) or Al 2 O 3 substrates by using Cu or NiO or tin as catalyst (Li et al, 2003;Lyu et al, 2002;Lyu et al, 2003;Wu et al, 2009;Gao et al, 2003).…”