Significant enhancement in photocatalytic activity of (GaN)1-x(ZnO)x nanowires via solubility and crystal facet tailoring

Abstract

We report on the solubility and crystal facet tailoring of the wurtzite structured (GaN)1-x(ZnO)x solid solution nanowires via a chemical vapor deposition method. With increasing the growth temperature from 900 °C to 1000 °C, the nanowire morphology is changed from zigzag to straight, and the band gap is increased from 2.70 eV to 3.26 eV, due to decreased solubility of ZnO. Photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic performances of the zigzag nanowires are significantly improved because of the narrower band gap for absorbing more solar light and the special lateral surface atomic structure favorable for the separation of photoinduced electrons and holes.