Fabrication and optical properties of ordered sea urchin-like ZnO nanostructures by a simple hydrothermal process

摘要

Ordered sea urchin-like zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures were fabricated via a simple hydrothermal process at relatively mild conditions by one step. The microstructure, morphology and the photoelectric properties of the as-prepared products were investigated by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, field emission environment scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible optical absorption and photocurrent-voltage measurements. The results demonstrated that the ZnO crystals had hexagonal wurtzite structures, and were assembled by a central nucleus and many needle-like ZnO which grew radially from the nucleus. Compared with ZnO nanorod arrays, the sea urchin-like ZnO nanostructures showed preferable photoelectric properties as the anode of dye-sensitized solar cells. This can be attributed to special geometric morphologies.