Sonochemical assisted synthesis of RGO/ZnO nanowire arrays for photoelectrochemical water splitting

•Sonochemical assisted approach to develop ZnO NWAs/RGO heterostructures on FTO substrate.•RAMAN and UV–Vis confirmation sonochemical assisted ZnO NWAs/RGO formation.•ZnO NWAs/RGO heterostructure showed amoleriated photoelectrochemical hydrogen production.•High photocurrent density were obtained by intercalation of reduced graphene oxide on ZnO NWAs. This article presented the synthesis of a hybrid nanoarchitecture material composed of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) multiple sheets and ZnO nanowire arrays (NWAs) formed on an arbitrary ZnO coated fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates via pulse sonication and hydrothermal approach. The NWAs have high aspect-ratio, high density, apt positioning and well-ordered formation. FESEM images demonstrated that RGO layers have been effectively intercalated between and on the accessible surfaces of the ZnO NWAs. The diameter of ZnO nanowires is 80–150nm and length about 1–2μm. Raman spectrum of hybrid material exhibited characteristic D and suppressed G peaks for graphene and E2 mode at 437cm−1 for ZnO NWAs. UV–visible spectrum indicated slight red shift towards visible range after formation of RGO/ZnO NWAs heterostructure. The Photoelectrochemical results indicated higher current densities for RGO/ZnO NWAs heterostructure due to water oxidation reaction at the working electrode compared to pristine ZnO NWAs.