Fabrication of large-scale ultra-fine Cd-doped ZnO nanowires

We demonstrate bulk synthesis of highly crystal Cd-doped ZnO nanowires by using (Cd + Zn) powders at 600 °C. These mass ultra-fine ZnO nanowires with about 0%, 1%, 4% and 8% Cd so obtained have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM). They have the uniform diameter of about 20 nm and several hundred microns in length. The growth of the as-synthesized nanowires is suggested for self-catalyzed vapor–liquid–solid.