Controlling the Growth of ZnO-SiO₂ Nanostructures Using Pt-Coated Si Substrate

Abstract

ZnO-SiO2 nanostructures were grown on both bare Si and Pt-coated Si substrates via chemical bath deposition (CBD). The grown nanostructures were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) measurement and Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectroscopy. Surface morphology results revealed that Pt-coated Si substrate have promoted the growth of ZnO-SiO2 nanostructures by providing more active sites for nucleation thus formation ZnO-SiO2 nanostructures were observed. It is believed that SiO2 will adhere to the non-polar sides of the grown ZnO nanostructures. This result is manifested in the FTIR spectra which showed a pronounced peak corresponding to ZnO-SiO2 grown on bare Si suggesting that more Si-O bonds are present. However, Pt-coating did not significantly affect the band gap of the grown ZnO-SiO2 nanostructures.

Influence of OH−Ion Concentration on the Surface Morphology of ZnO-SiO2Nanostructure

“…Recently, we reported preliminary investigations on the synthesis of ZnO-SiO 2 both in powder form [20] and deposited on glass substrates [21] by using simple wet chemical deposition process. It is also worth mentioning that the SiO 2 from rice husk ash, a naturally occurring material, was used as an alternative to the expensive liquid tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS).…”