A Versatile Approach for the Synthesis of ZnO Nanorod-Based Hybrid Nanomaterials via Layer-by-Layer Assembly

A layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly approach has been developed to synthesize ZnO nanorod-based hybrid nanomaterials such as ZnO/CeO2, ZnO/CdS, and ZnO/Ag on ZnO nanorod templates at room temperature. The morphology, structure, and composition of the ZnO nanorod-based hybrid nanomaterials have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. It is indicated that a uniform coating layer consisting of homogeneous nanoparticles is deposited on the surface of ZnO nanorods due to the strong electrostatic attraction between metal ions and polyelectrolyte modified ZnO nanorods. The general approach presented here can be extended to the synthesize other one-dimensional (1D) nanostructure-based hybrid nanomaterials.