Morphological, Material, and Optical Properties of ZnO/ZnS/CNTs Nanocomposites on SiO2 Substrate

Abstract

Ultraviolet A light (UV-A, 320–400 nm), which is unblockable by sunscreen, requires careful detection for disease avoidance. In this study, we propose a novel photosensing device capable of detecting UV-A. Cancer-causing UV light can be simultaneously monitored with tiny rapid response sensors for a high carrier transition speed. In our research, a multifunctional ZnO/ZnS nanomaterial hybrid-sprinkled carbon nanotube (CNT) was created for the purpose of fabricating a multipurpose, semiconductorbased application. For our research, ZnO nanorods (NRs) were grown by using a facile hydrothermal method on SiO2 substrate, then vulcanized to form ZnO/ZnS coreshell nanorods, which were sprinkled with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Results indicate that SiO2/ZnO/ZnS/CNT structures exhibited a stronger conducting current with and without light than those samples without CNTs. Multiple material characterizations of the nanostructures, including of atomic force microscopy (AFM) surface morphology evaluation, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicate that CNTs could be successfully spread on top of the ZnO/ZnS coreshell structures. Furthermore, chemical binding properties, material crystallinity, and optical properties were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and photoluminescence (PL). Owing to their compact size, simple fabrication, and low cost, ZnO/ZnS coreshell NRs/CNT/SiO2-based nanocomposites are promising for future industrial optoelectronic applications.

Influence of the Alcohols on the ZnO Synthesis and Its Properties: The Photocatalytic and Antimicrobial Activities

“…The ZnO nanopowders are white, and therefore present little absorption in the visible spectrum, but they exhibit a strong absorption band in the UV domain, with the peak at 366 nm (Figure 7a). This strong absorption under 400 nm is the reason why ZnO nanoparticles are used as key component of sunscreen cosmetics [91][92][93], but also in the textile industry [94][95][96] or as a protective coating [97]. This absorption band is related to the electron jump from valence band to conduction band and can be used to estimate the band-gap values for ZnO nanopowders.…”