ZnO is a promising semiconducting material for manufacturing optoelectronic
devices. Its most important properties are its wide and direct band gap and its high
electron-hole binding energy. Synthesis of ZnO in bulk and thin film form has been
investigated intensively over recent decades. Likewise, nanomaterials have been in
the point of focus for their different properties compared to their bulk form. The
vastly increased ratio of surface area to volume and change in electronic properties
with great reduction in particle size enable improved performance in conventional
applications where their bulk counterparts have been used for decades. As a result of
this trend, research on synthesis of ZnO nanowires and their incorporation in
prototype optoelectronic devices has been intensive in recent years. Therefore,
synthesis of ZnO nanowires in a cost effective way and understanding the factors
influencing the ZnO nanowire growth is essential for contribution to ongoing
research.
V
In this thesis, hydrothermal synthesis of ZnO nanowires, which is a solution based
method enabling vertically aligned ZnO nanowire array fabrication over large areas,
is investigated. In the first part of this thesis, the effect of using various zinc salts as
zinc sources on ZnO nanowires is investigated by monitoring pH, temperature and
light transmittance of growth solutions. In the second part, a detailed parametric
study on the use of zinc acetate dihydrate salt is provided with regard to the existence
of its unique properties compared to other two zinc salts. The effect of growth time,
temperature, ratio of concentration of precursor chemicals and precursor chemical
concentrations is investigated. The results show that hydrothermal synthesis method
could replace the conventional ZnO nanowire fabrication methods. It was shown that
specific nanowire lengths for any application can be obtained simply by adjusting the
parameters of hydrothermal growth system.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12614230/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 March 2012 |
| Creators | Akgun, Mehmet Can |
| Contributors | Unalan, Husnu Emrah |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for METU campus |
Page generated in 0.3078 seconds