ZnO−ZnS Heterojunction and ZnS Nanowire Arrays for Electricity Generation

Abstract

Vertically aligned ZnO-ZnS heterojunction nanowire (NW) arrays were synthesized by thermal evaporation in a tube furnace under controlled conditions. Both ZnO and ZnS are of wurtzite structure, and the axial heterojunctions are formed by epitaxial growth of ZnO on ZnS with an orientation relationship of [0001](ZnO)//[0001](ZnS). Vertical ZnS NW arrays have been obtained by selectively etching ZnO-ZnS NW arrays. Cathodoluminescence measurements of ZnO-ZnS NW arrays and ZnS NW arrays show emissions at 509 and 547 nm, respectively. Both types of aligned NW arrays have been applied to convert mechanical energy into electricity when they are deflected by a conductive AFM tip in contact mode. The received results are explained by the mechanism proposed for nanogenerator.

One-dimensional ZnO nanostructures: Solution growth and functional properties

“…Following this initial discovery, both direct current [23,499,500] and alternating current [24] ZnO nanogenerators have been developed. In addition, nanogenerators based on other materials, such as GaN nanowires [501][502][503], InN nanowires [504], AlGaN nanocones [505], CdS nanowires [506], ZnO/ZnS heterojunction nanowires [507], lead zircornia titanates (PZT) nanofibers [508], nanoribbons [509][510][511][512][513], nanotubes [514], and single crystalline nanowires [515], BaTiO 3 nanowires [516], NaNbO 3 nanowires [517], and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanofibers [518,519], have shown promising potential for enhancing nanogenerator performance. Consequently, a worldwide effort has been launched in this regard, forming a new research field in nanotechnology and energy science [520].…”

Biokinetics of zinc oxide nanoparticles: toxicokinetics, biological fates, and protein interaction

“…Therefore, the interaction of nanoparticles with proteins is highly dependent on the surface characteristics and particle size of the nanoparticles. 43,44 Most of the studies on nanoparticle-protein interaction have been performed with blood or plasma proteins, such as albumins, immunoglobulins, fibrinogen, lipoproteins, and coagulation factors, to examine binding, adsorption, and changes in protein structure. [45][46][47] These types of interactions may cause undesirable toxic effects or facilitate the delivery of nanoparticles to organs, because plasma proteins play a critical role in the disposition, transportation, and deposition of both endogenous and exogenous molecules by noncovalent interaction.…”

Tunable mechanical and thermal properties of ZnS/CdS core/shell nanowires

“…Core/shell nanowires are one kind of functionalized nanowires where the surface region of a pure nanowire is coated by a thin shell of different materials. In recent years, many experimental investigations have been carried out to synthesize and characterize different kinds of core/shell structures such as ZnO/ZnS [13], ZnO/CdS, [14] GaN/GaP, ZnO/TiO2 [15,16], CdSe/CdS [17,18], PbSe/CdSe [19,20], ZnS/CdS [21][22][23][24][25], CdS/ZnS [21,26,27], Ge/Si [28]. Both the classical molecular dynamics (MD) and density functional theory (DFT) methods have been used extensively to study the electronic [29][30][31][32][33][34][35], optical [29,36] and thermal [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] properties of the core/shell nanostructures.…”