High-density hydrothermal growth of zinc-oxide nanowires using printed resistive heater

•A method for the synthesis of high-density zinc-oxide nanowires is proposed.•High-density growth was achieved by enhanced heat transfer using a printed heater.•The developed method can be used for the local and selective growth of ZnO NWs.

A method for synthesizing high-density grown zinc-oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs) is proposed. A resistive heater printed on the backside of a substrate using a roll-to-roll gravure printing process was employed as a heat source for the NWs. Hydrothermal synthesis was used to grow the ZnO NWs on the backside of the printed resistive heater in a polydimethylsiloxane mold. After the reaction, the characteristics of the locally grown ZnO nanowires, including the density and verticality, were measured. The synthesis results indicated a high growth density, with an enhanced heat transfer efficiency and selectivity, compared with the comparison group.