Morphology Control of Zinc Oxide Nanostructure on Single Layer Graphene

Abstract

Various morphologies of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures on single layer graphene were synthesized by electrodeposition method. The current density was utilized to control the morphology of the ZnO. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was used to examine the surface morphology of the samples. SEM analysis shows morphology changes to nanorod, flower, and flakes with increase in the current density from 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 mA/cm(-1) respectively. The XRD, XPS, and Raman spectroscopy were adopted to characterize the ZnO nanostructure and to understand the formation of various morphologies. The Raman result clearly shows extra modes due to for flakes structure caused by c-axis orientation along the substrate direction. Further, XPS data also supports formation of ZnO without any other intermediate compound such as Zn(OH)2. The formation of various morphologies was correlated to the formation different ratio of Zn2+ and OH- ions and the change in growth direction due to various current densities.