Synthesis of a zinc oxide/graphene hybrid material by the direct thermal decomposition of oxalate

Abstract

Hybrid materials of zinc (II) oxide (ZnO) nanocrystals and graphene are of current interest due to their cheap, Earth-abundant composition, low toxicity, and varied applications in photocatalysis, sensing, and electronics among others. We have developed a novel methodology for the synthesis of such materials utilizing the thermal decomposition of zinc (II) oxalate in solid-state solution with graphene nanoplatelets. Although the procedure simply involves precursor mixing and heating, electronic interaction between the ZnO and graphitic phases is spectroscopically observed in the hybrid materialbeyond that of a homogeneous mixture of ZnO and graphene-via powder XRD, XPS, and ATR-IR spectroscopy. The synthetic method employed can be easily tuned for the desired hybrid product stoichiometry, and is easily industrially scalable with minimal chemical waste products.

Controlled Fabrication of Quality ZnO NWs/CNTs and ZnO NWs/Gr Heterostructures via Direct Two-Step CVD Method

“…There has also been considerable interest in developing hybrid structures of graphene and ZnO in various forms. Researchers have been successful in developing methods such as transferring as-grown ZnO NWs onto graphene [ 34 ], growing ZnO nanorods directly on graphene via a hydrothermal process [ 30 , 35 ], or even electrophoretic deposition of graphene oxide within ZnO NWs [ 33 ], among other methods [ 40 ]. Although effective in creating heterostructures, and some even at lower temperatures, these methods did not produce high-quality materials and are time-consuming (involve many more steps) unlike those observed with CVD.…”