Fabrication and characteristics of ZnO nanorods grown on Zn substrates by the hydrothermal method

ZnO nanorods fabricated on a Zn substrate pre-coated with ZnO as a seed layer by the hydrothermal method were studied mainly as a function of ZnO precursor concentration. Characteristic features by using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were investigated to define the changed micro-structure and crystalline phase of the ZnO nanorods according to the experimental conditions. The nanorod morphology strongly depended on the precursor concentration. For example, ZnO nanorods vertically aligned with a hexagonal (002) oriented structure with a diameter of 600 similar to 700 nm and length of 6.75 mu m were clearly observed at the highest concentration of 0.015 M. The strong hexagonal structure was believed to be associated with the highest photoluminescene (PL) intensity and a promising voltage value of ca. 6.069 V at 1000 mu A.