Formation of ZnO nanorod arrays on polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE) via a seeded growth low temperature hydrothermal reaction

▶ In this paper, growth of ZnO nanorod arrays using seeded growth low temperature hydrothermal on flexible polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE) sheets is discussed systematically. It was observed that the best seeds could be obtained by thermal oxidation of Zn film at 300 °C in air for 10 min. Well aligned and uniform tapered nanorods was formed after 8 h hydrothermal reaction. Longer exposure times resulted in more uniform nanorods. ▶ XRD analysis showed that the ZnO nanorod array had a hexagonal wurtzite structure which was in agreement with HR-TEM observations and Raman scattering analysis. ▶ Photoluminescence study showed that a strong UV emission peak was obtained at 380 nm and a small peak at 560 nm, which is associated with green emission. The optical band gap measured from these plots was at 3.2 eV on average.