Synthesis and characterization of S-doped ZnO nanowires produced by a simple solution-conversion process

Sulfur-doped ZnO nanowires were successfully synthesized by a very simple chemical solution-conversion process at room temperature, in which the precursor ZnO nanowires were immersed in thiourea solution for 10 h to get S-doped ZnO nanowires. The S-doped ZnO nanowires have diameters of about 80 nm and lengths up to 10 μm. The S-doped ZnO nanowires also indicate single crystalline wurtzite structure and (0 0 0 1) growth direction. Photoluminescence spectra of S-doped ZnO nanowires show blue shift of the UV emission and complication of green emissions compared with that of pure ZnO nanowires. The possible growth mechanism is also discussed.