UV detecting properties of hydrothermal synthesized ZnO nanorods

The photoresponse behavior of one-dimensional ZnO nanorods grown on ZnO-coated glass substrates via a wet-chemical route at low temperature of 70 degrees C was investigated. The morphology, structure, composition and chemical state of the prepared nanostructures were characterized by SEM, AFM, XRD and XPS measurements, respectively. The ZnO 1D nanostructures were found to have a hexagonal crystalline structure and grown along the [0 0 1] direction. The nanorods were about 1 mu m in length and lower than 100 nm in diameter. The changes in photoresponse of the ZnO nanorods were investigated under different powers of UV illumination and it was also shown that the nanorods have a high sensitivity to UV light. The study suggested that the photoresponse originated from bulk and surface related processes. It is believed that the synthesized ZnO nanorods can be potentially useful in the designing of 1D ZnO-based optoelectronic devices. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.