Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a strong luminescent material, as are several polymers. These two materials have distinct drawbacks and advantages, and they can be combined to form nanostructures with many important applications, e.g., large-area white lighting. This paper discusses the origin of visible emission centers in ZnO nanorods grown with different approaches. White light emitting diodes (LEDs) were fabricated by combining n-ZnO nanorods and hollow nanotubes with different p-type materials to form heterojunctions. The p-type component of the hybrids includes p-SiC, p-GaN, and polymers. We conclude by analyzing the electroluminescence of the different light emitting diodes we fabricated. The observed optical, electrical, and electro-optical characteristics of these LEDs are discussed with an emphasis on the deep level centers that cause the emission.

Highly oriented ZnO nanotubes were fabricated on a silicon substrate by aqueous chemical growth at low temperature (<100 °C) by trimming of ZnO nanorods. The yield of nanotubes in the sample was 100%. Photoluminescence spectroscopy of the nanotubes reveals an enhanced and broadened ultraviolet (UV) emission peak, compared with the initial nanorods. This effect is attributed to whispering gallery mode resonance. In addition, a redshift of the UV emission peak is also observed. Enhancement in the deep defect band emission in the nanotubes compared to nanorods was also manifested as a result of the increased surface area.

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ZnO nanotubes ͑ZNTs͒ have been successfully evolved from ZnO nanorods ͑ZNRs͒ by a simple chemical etching process. Two peaks located at 382 and 384 nm in the UV emission region has been observed in the room temperature photoluminescence ͑PL͒ spectrum of ZNTs since the surface band bending in ZNTs induces the coexistence of indirect and direct transitions in their emission process. In addition, a strong enhancement of total luminescence intensity at room temperature in ZNTs has also be observed in comparison with that of ZNRs. Both temperature-dependent PL and time-resolved PL results not only further testify the coexistence of indirect and direct transitions due to the surface band bending but also reveal that less nonradiative contribution to the emission process in ZNTs finally causes their stronger luminescence intensity.

Chemically fashioned zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowalls on aluminum wire have been characterized and utilized to fabricate a potentiometric cholesterol biosensor by an electrostatic conjugation with cholesterol oxidase. The sensitivity, specificity, reusability, and stability of the conjugated surface of ZnO nanowalls with thickness of similar to 80 nm have been investigated over a wide logarithmic concentrations of cholesterol electrolyte solution ranging from 1x10(-6)-1x10(-3) M. The presented biosensor illustrates good linear sensitivity slope curve (similar to 53 mV/decade) corresponding to cholesterol concentrations along with rapid output response time of similar to 5 s.Original Publication:M.Q. Israr, J.R. Sadaf, Omer Nur, Magnus Willander, S. Salman and B. Danielsson, Chemically fashioned ZnO nanowalls and their potential application for potentiometric cholesterol biosensor, 2011, Applied Physics Letters, (98), 25, 253705.http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3599583Copyright: American Institute of Physicshttp://www.aip.org