Structured ZnO films: Effect of copper nitrate addition to precursor solution on topography, band gap energy and photocatalytic activity

ZnO is a widely studied semiconductor material with interesting properties such as photocatalytic activity leading to wide range of applications, for example in the field of opto-electronics and self-cleaning and antimicrobial applications. Doping of photocatalytic semiconductor materials has been shown to introduce variation in the band gap energy of the material. In this work, ZnO rods were grown on a stainless steel substrates using hydrothermal method introducing copper nitrate into the precursor solution. Zinc nitrate and hexamethylenetetramine were used as precursor materials and the growth was conducted at 90 °C for 2 h in order to achieve a well-aligned evenly distributed rod structure. Copper was introduced as copper nitrate that was added in the precursor solution in the beginning of the growth. The as-prepared films were then heat-treated at 350 °C and band gap measurements were performed for prepared films. It was found that increase in the copper concentration in the precursor solution decreased the band gap of the ZnO film. Methylene blue discolouration tests were then performed in order to study the effect of the copper nitrate addition to precursor solution on photocatalytic activity of the structured ZnO films.