Evidence of Graphene-like ZnO Nanostructures via Zinc Dimethoxide Hydrolysis–Condensation Under Ambient Conditions on a Au(111) Surface Using SERS: Simulation and Experiment

Abstract

So far, the growth of graphene-like ZnO structures and nanostructures on different metallic substrates has been achieved mainly by chemical vapor depositions techniques at ultrahigh vacuum conditions. We report for the first time, evidence of graphene-like ZnO structures and nanostructures via zinc dimethoxide hydrolysis−condensation under ambient conditions on a Au(111) gold-coated surface. Moreover, we also show that these systems can be monitored using a relatively accessible instrumentation technique such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) in addition to other complementary techniques. Our experimental data were supported by computational simulations of graphene-like ZnO structures and nanostructures using DFT and TD-DFT methodologies. For the first time, the SERS features of graphene-like ZnO structures and nanostructures with hydroxyl-terminated edges are presented in addition to their corresponding calculated Raman features for periodic and nanosized models. The preparation and monitoring of these graphene-like ZnO structures and nanostructures by means of more accessible techniques is a key to driving advances in their performance as novel materials for energy, sensing, and catalysis applications.

Optimizing optoelectronic performance: impact of polar-terminated zinc oxide on MoS2 Van der Waals heterostructure

“…Furthermore, in [19] the lattice constants are frozen, in contrast we allowed the lattice constants to vary to yield lowest energy configuration (see methods). It is also notable that the ZnO(0001) is experimentally realized [32] while recently, graphene-like ZnO nanostructures were reported in the literature [33]. In general, the value of d is determined by (a) wave function overlap (sharing/coupling of electron) or (b) fluctuating polarizations (VdW) in the interlayer region.…”