Spectroelectrochemistry and photoelectrochemistry of electrodeposited ZnO nanorods

Abstract

The electrodeposition of nanostructured semiconductors with tunable properties is of vital importance to develop optoelectronic devices. In this work, we introduce a novel synthesis protocol involving a multiple pulse electrodeposition nucleation stage combined with conventional potentiostatic ZnO nanorod growth in a nitrate bath. The in-situ nucleation step allowed a higher surface density of ZnO nanorods. The effect of potential and total charge transferred during the nanorod growth was also systematically studied. Besides, spectroelectrochemical properties of different diameter electrodeposited ZnO nanorods were compared. Electrochemical Burstein-Moss shift was observed for the different diameter ZnO nanorods when the potential was modified. Finally, spectroelectrochemical measurements of small diameter (≈60 nm) ZnO nanorods were carried out under different conditions, for example, electrolyte composition and amount of dissolved O2, to establish how these parameters affect the Burstein-Moss shift.