Microstructure-Dependent Visible-Light Driven Photoactivity of Sputtering-Assisted Synthesis of Sulfide-Based Visible-Light Sensitizer onto ZnO Nanorods
Institute of Materials Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan
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Academic Editor: Giorgio Biasiol
Materials 2016, 9(12), 1014; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9121014
Received: 31 October 2016 / Revised: 3 December 2016 / Accepted: 7 December 2016 / Published: 15 December 2016
(This article belongs to the Section Structure Analysis and Characterization)
The ZnO-CdS core-shell composite nanorods with CdS shell layer thicknesses of 5 and 20 nm were synthesized by combining the hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanorods with the sputtering thin-film deposition of CdS crystallites. The microstructures and optical properties of the ZnO-CdS nanorods were associated with the CdS shell layer thickness. A thicker CdS shell layer resulted in a rougher surface morphology, more crystal defects, and a broader optical absorbance edge in the ZnO-CdS rods. The ZnO-CdS (20 nm) nanorods thus engaged in more photoactivity in this study. When they were further subjected to a postannealing procedure in ambient Ar/H2, this resulted in the layer-like CdS shell layers being converted into the serrated CdS shell layers. By contrast, the ZnO-CdS nanorods conducted with the postannealing procedure exhibited superior photoactivity and photoelectrochemical performance; the substantial changes in the microstructures and optical properties of the composite nanorods following postannealing in this study might account for the observed results.
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Keywords:
sputtering; microstructures; heterostructure; photoactivity
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MDPI and ACS Style
Liang, Y.-C.; Chung, C.-C.; Lo, Y.-J.; Wang, C.-C. Microstructure-Dependent Visible-Light Driven Photoactivity of Sputtering-Assisted Synthesis of Sulfide-Based Visible-Light Sensitizer onto ZnO Nanorods. Materials 2016, 9, 1014.
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