Ultrasonication Induced Synthesis of Zn/ZnO Core-shell Structures

Metal-semiconductor Zn/ZnO core-shell structures are fabricated by a simple ultrasonic process of raw Zn particles in water. The crystal structure, morphologies and fluorescence of the Zn/ZnO core-shell particles are characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and fluorescence spectrophotometer. The XRD pattern confirms that the shells of the Zn/ZnO core-shell particles are composed of Wurtzite ZnO crystals. The SEM study clearly exhibits the formation of ZnO on the surface of Zn spheres. The room-temperature fluorescence spectra have been observed a strong ultraviolet (UV)-visible emission at 381 nm and a yellow-green deep-level emission at about 534 nm. It is noted that the very broad green emission at 510 nm appears in the ZnO crystals with increasing the content of ZnO shell on the surface of Zn spheres. Furthermore, a possible formed mechanism of ZnO shells on the Zn core is discussed.