Low-temperature fabrication of ZnO nanoarray films by forced hydrolysis of anhydrous zinc acetate layer

ZnO nanoarray film was successfully fabricated at low temperature by the in situ forced hydrolysis of an anhydrous zinc acetate layer in an aqueous solution. The forced hydrolysis of anhydrous zinc acetate was investigated over a wide range of low temperatures (40-90 °C) and concentrations (0.01-0.2 M). The in situ forced hydrolysis of the anhydrous zinc acetate precursor layer was most important for the subsequent growth of ZnO nanoarrays by conventional heterogeneous nucleation and growth in a heated aqueous solution. Otherwise, no ZnO nanoarray films were formed. The morphology and crystal structure of the as-deposited ZnO nanoarrays were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Since the forced hydrolysis of anhydrous zinc acetate occurred at over 50 °C, relatively higher temperatures and high concentrations benefitted the faster growth of ZnO nanocrystals.