Fabrication of arrangement-controlled and vertically grown ZnO nanorods by metal nanotransfer printing

Abstract

Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods have been widely investigated for use in piezoelectric generators, photovoltaic devices, nanotemplates, photoelectrochemical applications, etc. In addition to vertical alignment, intentional arrangement of ZnO nanorods according to a careful design can enhance the device performance. In this work, we used metal nanotransfer printing to fabricate arrangement-controlled and vertically grown ZnO nanorods on both hard and flexible substrates. Highly vertical growth and periodical arrangement of the ZnO nanorods were confirmed by microscope images. Their crystallinity and photoluminescence characteristics were also investigated. Transmission spectra of the substrates show the enhancement of optical transmission after the nanorod growth. We believe that this fabrication technique lends itself to simple fabrication of arrangement-controlled and vertically grown one-dimensional nanostructures on both hard and flexible substrates for application in solar cells, water splitting, metamaterials, etc.