Preparation and XRD analyses of Na-doped ZnO nanorod arrays based on experiment and theory

ZnO nanorod arrays (NRAs) with different Na contents were prepared by thermal evaporation. Sodium pyrophosphate was adopted as the Na source. The Na contents in NRAs were determined by X-ray photoelectron spectra to be 0, 6.1, and 9.4 at.%. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses of Na-doped ZnO NRAs were performed in experiment and by first-principle calculation with the assumption of Na substitutions. A couple of typical changes were found in XRD patterns of Na-doped ZnO. The simulation results well agreed with the experimental data, which revealed that Na mainly located at the substitutional sites in Na-doped ZnO NRAs. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.