Uniform large-scale growth of micropatterned arrays of ZnO nanowires synthesized by a surfactant assisted approach

Large-scale ZnO nanowire arrays with honeycomb-like micropatterns have been synthesized by a surfactant assisted soft chemical approach. Sol-gel-derived ZnO thin film with crystallographic orientation along the c axis was used as a substrate for the growth of ZnO nanowires. The micropatterned arrays of ZnO nanowires also exhibited strong crystallographic orientation along the c axis. Experimental parameters were varied to explore the possible growth mechanism of the nanowires as well as the micropatterned arrays formed by the ZnO nanowires. The room temperature photoluminescence studies revealed that the ZnO nanowire arrays exhibited a strong UV emission peak at similar to 3.22 eV ascribed to the band edge emission.