Growth of ZnO nanowires on multi-layered polymer structures fabricated by UV liquid transfer imprint lithography

Among various growth processes, hydrothermal synthesis has been widely employed to produce ZnO nanowires because of its simplicity and cost effectiveness. However, the successful hydrothermal synthesis of ZnO nanowires on multi-layered polymer structures has been limited due to growth inhibitors in the polymer. For example, alpha-hydroxy ketone resolved in a UV-curable polyurethane acrylate (PUA) resin forms carboxyl groups (COOH) consisting of hydroxyl groups (OH) on the α-position of a carbonyl group (CO) during the UV-curing process. The carboxyl groups suppress the nucleation and growth of ZnO nanowires. In this paper, multi-layered polymer structures were fabricated by liquid transfer imprint lithography (LTIL), and the enriched carboxyl groups on the UV-cured PUA structures were pre-treated with hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) solution to reduce the inhibitive influence of the carboxyl groups. The HMTA pre-treatment enabled ZnO nanowires to grow hydrothermally on multi-layered PUA structures despite the initial presence of carboxyl groups. [Display omitted] •Multi-layered polymer structures were fabricated using a polyurethane acrylate by liquid transfer imprint lithography.•UV-cured PUA structures have carboxyl groups that suppress the nucleation and growth of ZnO nanowires.•Carboxyl groups were pretreated in aqueous hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) solution prior to ZnO seed layer coating.•ZnO nanowires were grown on the multi-layered polymer structures by hydrothermal synthesis.