Directing the growth of ZnO nano structures on flexible substrates using low temperature aqueous synthesis

Abstract

This paper reports a detailed discussion on the aqueous chemical growth of ZnO nanowires (NWs) on 2-D and 3-D polyethersulfone. Substrate surface chemistry and substrate placement in the growth solution is found to affect the morphology of the grown nanostructures and indeed the growth direction of the NWs. We report for the first time a-axis ZnO NWs using a low temperature synthesis method. The electrochemical behaviour regarding water oxidation showed significant differences depending on the growth directions but this difference was eliminated after annealing, both in dark and under illumination.