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, spectro-electrochemical 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, spectro-electrochemical measurements of small diameter (60 nm) ZnO nanorods were carried out under different conditions, for example, electrolyte composition and amount of dissolved O, to establish how these parameters affect the Burstein-Moss shift