Hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanorods on electrospun polyamide nanofibers
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Hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanorods on electrospun polyamide nanofibers Thushara J. Athauda, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Keplinger Hall, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104 Umaiz Butt, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104 Ruya R. Ozer, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Keplinger Hall, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104 Address all correspondence to Dr. Ruya R. Ozer at [email protected] (Received 2 October 2012; accepted 19 December 2012)
Abstract We report for the first time the hydrothermal growth of radially aligned ZnO nanorods on electrospun polyamide nanofibers, paving the way to the development of transparent, flexible, portable, solution processable, and low-cost thin-film photovoltaics. Polyamide nanofibers with mean diameters of 100 nm were prepared by electrospinning followed by a two-step hydrothermal growth method for fabricating ZnO nanorods. The loading ratio of ZnO nanorods were found to be 66 wt% by thermogravimetric analysis, significantly higher than the ZnO grown on cotton and nylon fabrics previously. A significant increase of UV absorption was observed. Superhydrophobicity, which is a desirable feature of selfcleaning photovoltaic devices, was achieved using 1-dodecanethiol modification.
Introduction There has been a growing interest in the development of flexible, portable, solution processable, low-cost, and thin-film photovoltaics.[1] To achieve a cost competitiveness and widespread commercial adaptation of the solar cell technology, small amounts of materials and low-cost manufacturing technologies are necessary. More specifically, the development of liquid-phase deposition of materials on flexible substrates would bring a paradigm shift in the photovoltaic research. ZnO has emerged as a cost-effective alternative to the most commonly used conducting electrode material, indium tin oxide (ITO). ZnO has many desirable properties, such as its wide band gap (~3.37 eV), visible light transparency, piezoelectricity, photocatalytic activity, biocompatibility, infrared absorption, and ease of production.[2] Unlike TiO2, ZnO can be molded into various nanostructures by simply controlling the synthesis parameters. ZnO nanorods and nanowires provide high surface area and direct conduction pathway for the rapid collection of photogenerated electrons. Liquid-phase synthesis of ZnO nanostructures is preferred due to the energy-efficient, inexpensive, and straightforward nature of the process. The hydrothermal growth process requires two steps of seeding and growth treatments carried out in liquids, which result in epitaxial crystal growth of ZnO nanorods. First, seeding is achieved by depositing ZnO nanoparticles onto substrates for forming nucleation sites which lower the thermodynamic barrier and hence enable further growth of high aspect ratio ZnO nanorods. Second, high aspect ratio ZnO nanorods were grown in a solution of zinc acetate and triethylamine under relatively mild conditions.
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