Catalyst-free fabrication of novel ZnO/CuO core-Shell nanowires heterojunction: Controlled growth, structural and optoelectronic properties

Development of controlled growth and vertically aligned ZnO/CuO core-shell heterojunction nanowires (NWs) with large area by a catalyst free vapor deposition and oxidation approach has been investigated. Structural characterization reveals successful fabrication of a core ZnO nanowire having single...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Khan, M. A., Wahab, Y., Muhammad, R., Tahir, M., Sakrani, S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V. 2018
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Online Access:http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/81811/1/MuhammadArifKhan2018_CatalystFreeFabricationofNovelZnOCuOCore.pdf
http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/81811/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.11.071
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Institution: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Language: English
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Summary:Development of controlled growth and vertically aligned ZnO/CuO core-shell heterojunction nanowires (NWs) with large area by a catalyst free vapor deposition and oxidation approach has been investigated. Structural characterization reveals successful fabrication of a core ZnO nanowire having single crystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure along [002] direction and CuO nanostructure shell with thickness (8–10 nm) having polycrystalline monoclinic structure. The optical property analysis suggests that the reflectance spectrum of ZnO/CuO heterostructure nanowires is decreased by 18% in the visible range, which correspondingly shows high absorption in this region as compared to pristine ZnO nanowires. The current-voltage (I–V) characteristics of core-shell heterojunction nanowires measured by conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) shows excellent rectifying behavior, which indicates the characteristics of a good p-n junction. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) has confirmed the sharp junction interface between the core-shell heterojunction nanowire arrays. The valence band offset and conduction band offset at ZnO/CuO heterointerfaces are measured to be 2.4 ± 0.05 and 0.23 ± 0.005 eV respectively, using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and a type-II band alignment structure is found. The results of this study contribute to the development of new advanced device heterostructures for solar energy conversion and optoelectronics applications.