Oriented growth of ZnO nanostructures on different substrates via a hydrothermal method

Well-oriented ZnO nanorod arrays are successfully fabricated on different substrates. They are formed on different substrates at low temperature via a hydrothermal method, without adding any catalysts or templates. This approach is convenient and inexpensive. The morphologies of ZnO crystals could be controlled and transformed to other morphologies successfully by using different substrates. The effects of the substrates on the ZnO nanorod arrays have been systematically studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The characterizations of XRD and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveal that these products are pure single-crystal and the structure is uniform. The photoluminescence property has been detected by photoluminescence (PL) spectrum and Raman spectrum. Photoluminescence measurements show that each spectrum consists of the ultraviolet (UV) band and a relative broad visible light emission peak. But substrates play roles in the intensity of ultraviolet and visible light emission peak. The green emission in Raman measurement may be related to the surface states.