Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of ZnO:F nanorod structure

Abstract

F-doped ZnO nanorod structures were synthesized via hydrothermal process with variation of doping content starting from zinc nitrate solution and zinc oxide thin film used as seeding layer. The zinc oxide seeding film was fabricated by spin coating on glass substrate using zinc acetate precursor and annealed at 500 °C for 2 h. Relevant properties of ZnO:F nanorod structures were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and UV-VIS spectrophotometer. Corresponding results indicated that ZnO:F nanorod array, grown in (002) plane, has the characteristics of good crystallinity. In addition, this study showed that ZnO:F nanorod with exceptional structure can be obtained by hydrothermal process, operated at proper treatment time, temperature and F-doping content.