Photoelectric characteristics of the p-n junction between ZnO nanorods and polyaniline nanowires and their application as a UV photodetector

The present work reports a novel ultraviolet (UV) photodetector composed of zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO NRs) and polyaniline nanowires (PANI NWs). The ZnO NRs was synthesized by a hydrothermal method and the PANI NWs was synthesized by a chemical oxidation method. The morphology and structure of the samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical absorption properties of the samples were characterized with UV-vis absorption spectra. The photoresponse to UV light of the prepared UV photodetectors were characterized with the current-time (I-t) and current-potential (I-V) curves. The results showed that the UV photodetector based on ZnO/PANI nanocomposite had excellent UV photoelectric properties. The fabricated UV photodetector based on ZnO/PANI nanocomposite may have a variety of applications in UV detection. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.