Seed-free electrodeposition of ZnO bi-pods on electrophoretically-reduced graphene oxide for optoelectronic applications

Large areas of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) films were obtained by electrophoretic deposition onto insulating glass substrate. ZnO nanostructures were directly grown on the rGO films by single-step electrodeposition method. The properties of ZnO nanostructures were evaluated as a function of deposition mode onto rGO electrodes with different stoichiometry. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetrical analysis (TGA), transmission measurements, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to characterize the obtained materials. Bi-pod morphology was observed for ZnO electrodeposited on rGO films by pulsed current elelctrodeposition. The obtained ZnO/rGO hybrid structures show high potential for highly transparent optoelectronic nanodevices.