Two-step synthesis of centipede-like Ag/ZnO nanoarchitectures with tunable optical property

• Centipede-like Ag/ZnO nanoarchitectures were fabricated via a facile two-step wet-chemistry method.
• The structure, composition, and morphology of the samples were characterized using XRD, XPS, and TEM.
• The Ag/ZnO nanohybrids exhibited tunable optical property based on strong interfacial electronic coupling between neighboring ZnO nanorods and Ag nawires.

Novel centipede-like Ag/ZnO heterostructural composites were designed and fabricated via a facile two-step strategy. These hybrid nanoarchitectures consisted of monodispersed Ag nawires as trunks and highly oriented ZnO nanorods as branches. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The optical properties of the samples were investigated by measuring the UV–visible absorbance. The centipede-like Ag/ZnO nanohybrids showed tunable optical property based on strong interfacial electronic coupling between neighboring ZnO nanorods and Ag nawires.