Low-temperature large-area fabrication of ZnO nanowires on flexible plastic substrates by solution-processible metal-seeded hydrothermal growth

We have developed the low-temperature conformal ZnO nanowire fabrication on flexible plastic substrates by utilizing the solution-processible metal seed-assisted hydrothermal ZnO crystallization. Structural evolution of ZnO nanowires controlled by major parameters involving growth temperature, growth time, and seed coating condition, has been systematically investigated towards uniform and large-area growth of conformal ZnO nanowires. Direct ZnO nanowire growth on flexible plastics without undergoing the high-temperature seed sintering has been realized by developing the low-temperature Ag-seeded hydrothermal ZnO nanowire growth. The nanoporous Ag layer favorable for ZnO crystal nucleation and continued nanowire growth can be reduced from the Ag ion solution coating at the temperature as low as 130 °C. This tactfully enables the selective hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanowires on the Ag patterns on flexible plastics. Such an all-solution-processible low-temperature fabrication protocol may provide an essential and practical solution to develop many diverse applications including wearable and transparent electronics, sensors, and photocatalytic devices. As one example, we demonstrate that a transparent UV sensor can be devised based on the ZNW growth on the Ag micromesh electrode.