Facile synthesis of ZnO/CuO nanostructures on cellulose paper and their p-n junction properties

A cellulose paper based p-n junction device was fabricated by synthesizing the ZnO/CuO nanostructures via a hydrothermal process. The CuO nanospindles (NSs) were decorated on the surface of cellulose paper substrate by a simple soaking process. Subsequently, ZnO nanorod arrays were grown on the surface of the CuO NSs decorated cellulose paper (i.e., CuO NSs/paper) by the hydrothermal process. The synthesized ZnO/CuO nanostructures on cellulose paper exhibited good crystal and optical properties and favorably formed the p-n heterojunction with a rectifying behavior. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.