Non-aqueous cathodic electrodeposition of large-scale uniform ZnO nanowire arrays embedded in anodic alumina membrane

Ordered ZnO nanowire arrays were fabricated by cathodic electrodeposition based on anodic alumina membrane from a non-aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide solution containing zinc chloride and a molecular oxygen precursor. Their microstructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that the ZnO nanowires with wurtzite polycrystalline structure are uniformly embedded into the hexagonally ordered nanopores of anodic alumina membrane. A sharp ultraviolet emission at 383 nm and visible broad emission bands around 592 nm are observed from ZnO nanowire arrays.