Fabrication and Characteristics of Hexagonal Zn Nanowires Prepared by Heating a Mixture of Zn and Graphite Powders

Abstract

We report the fabrication of thin (<100 nm) hexagonal Zn nanowires in a conventional reactor, by heating a mixture of Zn and graphite powders. By material characterization, the products were identified as one-dimensional nanowires of serpent-like morphology with a hexagonal Zn phase. The main growth mechanism of the Zn nanowires was proposed to be a vapor-solid process, which was corroborated by the absence of any tip catalyst. Raman spectra of the Zn nanowires exhibited a prominent peak at around 570 cm(-1). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the surface of the Zn nanowires was clearly oxygen-deficient in comparison to that of ZnO nanowires. Photoluminescence analysis indicated that the Zn nanowires exhibited emission bands centered at 1.6, 2.0, 2.4, 3.0, and 3.3 eV, respectively.