Giant enhancement in UV response of ZnO nanobelts by polymer surface-functionalization

High sensitivity photodetectors are of great significance in developing a new generation of optoelectronic devices in sensing, imaging, and other applications. In this Communication, highly sensitive UV detectors based on ZnO nanobelts (NBs) are achieved by polymer surface-functionalization. The UV-induced photoconductance in ZnO NBs increases by 5 orders of magnitude after functionalizing, using a polymer that exhibits large UV absorption. The huge increase in photoconductance is attributed to an electron-hole generation process as assisted by the energy states in the polymer. This study suggests that, by selecting polymers with different wavelengths of UV absorption, highly sensitive UV detectors with a large range of detection wavelengths can be fabricated using ZnO NBs.