Structure and photoluminescence properties of Ag-coated ZnO nano-needles

► ZnO nano-needles were synthesized by thermal oxidation. ► Their surfaces were coated with Ag by pulse electro-deposition technique. ► The uncoated and coated ZnO nano-needles were characterized. ► The results showed that the prepared ZnO nano-needles have been coated with Ag successfully. ► The photoluminescence spectrums of ZnO nano-needles with Ag-coated and uncoated were analyzed, finding that the Ag-coated ZnO nano-needles can increase the absorption of UV light. A large number of zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-needles were synthesized by thermal oxidation of pure zinc. The surfaces of ZnO nano-needles were coated with a layer of Ag by pulse electro-deposition technique. The uncoated and coated ZnO nano-needles were characterized by using the X-ray diffraction and the scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed that the uncoated samples were close-packed hexagonal structure, which showed needle-like morphology. Their average diameter is about 40 nm, lengths up to 5 μm. At the same time we observed that the prepared ZnO nano-needles have been coated with Ag successfully. The photoluminescence spectrums of ZnO nano-needles with Ag-coated and uncoated were analyzed, finding that the uncoated ZnO nano-needles have two fluorescence peaks at 388 nm and 470.8 nm, respectively, the relative intensity of 143.4 and 93.61; and the Ag-coated ZnO nano-needles showed a pair of strong peaks at 387.4 nm and 405.2 nm, the relative intensity of 1366 and 1305, respectively, indicating that the Ag-coated ZnO nano-needles can increase the absorption of UV light.