Morphological, chemical and structural characterization of ZnO/ZnAl2O4 micro-nanostructures

Abstract

In this work we present a method of obtaining ZnO/ZnAl2O4 micronanostructures and their properties. ZnAl2O4 (bandgap ~3.8 eV) is a promising material for use in different applications, as catalyst, optoelectronic, etc., due to its thermal stability, electronic and chemical properties. ZnO micronanostructures obtained using flame transport synthesis were covered with ZnAl2O4 nanodots using chemical method. At the end the nanostructures were thermal annealed at 1000°C for 3 hours. Morphological, chemical and structural properties have been investigated using SEM, EDX and XRD, respectively. SEM investigation shows the formation of micro-nanostructures with different morphology, namely tetrapods and nanowires, covered with small nanodots. EDX study presented the chemical composition of the micro-nanostructures, confirming the presence of Al. XRD pattern of the investigated micro-nanostructures shows presence of ZnO and ZnAl2O4 in the material. Further integration and investigation of sensing properties of devices based on this material is necessary and will be presented in future work.