Chemical synthesis of ZnO nanorods: Investigations of electrochemical performance and photo-electrochemical water splitting applications

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanorods were prepared by facile and inexpensive chemical route at low temperature. X-ray diffraction study confirms the formation of hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure with high orientation along the c-axis. FE-SEM images show a vertical alignment of ZnO nanorods to the substrate surface, whose average diameter and length is 1.33 and 15 mu m, respectively. Electrochemical performance and photo-electrochemical water splitting of ZnO nanorods are investigated in 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte using the different electrochemical techniques. Electrochemical study of ZnO nanorods exhibits the maximum areal capacitance of 29.36 mFcm(-2) in the negative potential window, which is higher than the areal capacitance of 10.84 mFcm(-2) in the positive potential window at the scan rate of 5 mVs(-1). ZnO nanorods show the excellent stability of 97% over the 3000 cycles in both potential windows. Photo electrochemical water splitting demonstrates the fast photo-response with 0.098% photo-conversion efficiency. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.