Improved opto-electrical behavior of ZnO/C60 core/shell type organic-inorganic heterostructure

We report a successful synthesis of ZnO/C-60 core/shell-type organic-inorganic hybrid nanorod arrays (NRAs) using simple chemical route. X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) reveals hexagonal crystal structure of ZnO along with the face-centered cubic (fcc) structure of C-60. Detailed Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) inferred the attachment of C-60 on the surface of ZnO NRAs. HRTEM observation confirmed similar to 3 nm thickness of a very thin C-60 nanocrystals shell layer formation. HRSEM image shows the existence of C-60 on vertically aligned ZnO NRAs. UV-visible absorption spectra have two absorption edges corresponding to the energy band gap values of 3.05 and 1.83 eV which arise due to core ZnO and shell C-60 respectively. Photoluminescence spectra reveal a strong enhancement in the NBE emission and suppression in the deep-level emission on the surface modified ZnO NRAs. The measured electrical resistivity under illumination for ZnO/C-60 core/shell is lower than that of bare ZnO NRAs. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.