Sharif Digital Repository

The current study demonstrates homogenous decorating of zinc oxide quantum dots (QDs) onto graphene oxide (GO) surface via simple chemical method. The AFM image exhibited that the prepared graphene was 0.8 nm thick and hence practically monolayer. Average size of the ZnO QDs was estimated by transmission electron microscopy around 3 nm. Instrumental and chemical analyses demonstrated formation of a strong bond between ZnO QDs and GO, through C-O-Zn and C-Zn bridges. The UV-visible spectra displayed that the introduction of graphene sheets to ZnO QDs resulted in higher absorption intensity of UV as well as widening of adsorption window toward visible light for ZnO-Graphene due to chemical... 

We report fabrication of ultrafast and high contrast transparent electrochromic device desired for display application using nanostructured electrode. To this end, poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanotubes were synthesized by simple electrochemical polymerization method on hydrothermally grown ZnO nanowires array as electrode. The PEDOT nanotubes of 20 nm average wall thickness characterized by SEM, TEM and EDS. The manufactured cell was subjected to electrochemical test and spectrophotometery that showed high contrast of 54% during ultrafast switching time of <2.2 ms. In addition, high coloration efficiency of 234 cm2/C, ultrahigh diffusion coefficient of 2.01×10-4 cm2/s and... 

A double-tube vapor phase transport system has been used to grow ZnO nanostructures. Nanopillars, nanorods and nanowires of zinc oxide were synthesized on Au nanoparticle catalyst depending on source-substrate distance and temperature gradient in the quartz tube. In addition, influence of growth time and substrate temperature on the morphology of the nanorods and nanowires were also investigated. The scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to further understand the nanostructures growth mechanism on various temperatures and growth time steps. Longer length (>4μm) with hexagonal-cross-sectional nanowires, in [002]... 

We produced ZnO nanoparticles by high current electrical arc discharge of zinc electrodes in deionized (DI) water. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows formation of crystalline ZnO phase with hexagonal structure and 14 nm single crystalline domain size. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) result indicates that at 5 A arc current, the size of the particles is about 100 nm and increases by increasing the arc current. Absorption spectroscopy of the samples obtained at different arc currents shows an absorption edge on 370 nm which has a red shift by increasing the arc current. Band gap of the produced ZnO nanoparticles at 5 A arc current corresponds to 3.8 eV which decreases to 3.3 eV by... 

A convenient one-pot multi-component reaction of aromatic aldehydes, enolizable ketones or β-keto esters and acetonitrile in the presence of acetyl chloride and 10 mol% ZnO nanoparticles for the synthesis of β-acetamido ketones/esters at room temperature is described. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved  

A label-free electrochemical biosensor was developed for the rapid detection of the matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) biomarker on the basis of antibody immobilizing on the zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle and ZnO nanorod electrodes. The charge transfer resistance (Rct) of the electrodes was used as the indicator for MMP-9 concentration, which was obtained through cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The ZnO nanorod-based biosensor exhibited linear behavior in the MMP-9 concentration range of 1–1000 ng/ml, which is a wider range than the available concentration ranges for most of the conventional methods. The biosensor sensitivity was 32.5 μA/(decade × cm2)... 

One of the appealing usages of metal–organic frameworks is their application in manufacturing of metal oxide and metal oxide nanocomposites. In the present study, we used zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) as precursor to prepare a new Ag/C/ZnO catalyst. The as-prepared samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analysis. Improved catalytic performance of as-prepared Ag/C/ZnO was confirmed by reduction of organic pollutants including p-nitrophenol, methylene blue and rhodamine-B in the presence of NaBH 4 in aqueous media. The synergistic effect between Ag and ZnO was proposed as the... 

In this research, adsorption and photocatalytic degradation process were utilized to remove organic dye from wastewater. To accomplish that, a newly-designed ternary nanostructure based on Ag nanoparticles/ZnO nanorods/three-dimensional graphene network (Ag NPs/ZnO NRs/3DG) was prepared using a combined hydrothermal-photodeposition method. The three-dimensional structure of graphene hydrogel as a support for growth of ZnO nanorods was characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). In addition, diameter of silver nanoparticles grown on the ZnO nanorods with the average aspect ratio of 5 was determined in the range of 30–80 nm by using transmission electron microscopy... 

Multi wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) doped ZnO nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning for the first time. We have successfully demonstrated the photocatalytic activity of doped nanofibers under visible light. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the diameter of MWCNT-doped ZnO nanofibers varied from 120 to 300 nm without agglomeration of MWCNT. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies proved the formation of ZnO bond and wurtzite structure with smaller crystal size in doped nanofibers. Raman spectra demonstrated slight shift in bond position after nanofiber doping, indicating the chemical bond between MWCNT and ZnO. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy... 

Vertically aligned ZnO@CdS nanorod heterostructure films with various loadings of CdS nanoparticle shell were synthesized and applied in photoinactivation of Escherichia coli bacteria under visible light irradiation. While neither the bare ZnO nanorods (with band-gap energy (Eg) of ∼3.28 eV) under visible light irradiation nor the nanorod heterostructures in dark exhibited any significant antibacterial activity, the ZnO@CdS nanorod heterostructures (with Eg ∼2.5-2.6 eV) could successfully inactivate the bacteria under visible light irradiation. Furthermore, it was found that an optimum loading of the CdS shell (corresponding to the effective thickness less than ∼15 nm) is required to achieve... 

Here, the UV photodetection of ZnO rods grown on porous silicon substrates are reported. Laterally interconnected ZnO rods have been synthesized by chemical vapor transport and condensation method on porous silicon substrates. As characterized by current-voltage measurements the I-V characteristics have linear behavior, indicating space charge effect. The device exhibits photocurrent response of 0.027 A/W for 325 nm UV light under -5 V bias. The rise and decay time constants under these conditions are 19 and 62 s, respectively  

In this work, ultraviolet photodetectors based on electrodeposited ZnO sheet thin films were fabricated on a glass substrate. Before electrodeposition, a thin buffer layer of ZnO was deposited on the glass by pulsed laser deposition method. This layer not only acted as a nucleation site for ZnO sheet growth, but also made it possible to use cheap glass substrate instead of conventional fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate. Our results showed that photoresponse properties of the photodetectors strongly depend on the sheet sizes. The smaller sheets exhibited enhanced photosensitivity, shortened fall times and decreased gain compared to larger ones. We showed that photodetectors based on... 

In this research, effects of two-step sintering parameters, such as first and second step sintering temperatures (T1 and T2, respectively) and soaking time in the second step, on microstructure and electrical properties of ZnO varistors have been studied. In addition, slow rate of grain growth in the second step of sintering has also been investigated. Near fully dense (higher than 99%) and sub-micron grain size (1-0.75 μm) ZnO varistors have been fabricated by different two-step sintering cycles. Decreasing T1 and T2 result in longer necessary time in the second step to reach near full density with smaller final grain size. The superior electrical properties of varistors (VB: 2050-1022 V/mm... 

Two-stage chemical deposition (TSCD) technique is used to produce ZnO, Mn2O3 and NiO films on soda-lime glass (SL-G) from an aqueous solution of zinc, manganese and nickel complex, respectively. The TSCD method enables the deposition of metal oxide thin films with a thickness which can be controlled during the preparation procedure. The ZnO, Mn 2O3 and NiO thin films were polycrystalline films which were adherent well to the substrates. The SEM micrographs clearly indicate that the zinc oxide layer is composed of oval shaped crystallites preferably orientated perpendicular to the surface of the substrate. The Mn 2O3 and NiO layers were closely packed on the substrate. These particles seem to... 

Hybrid bioactive inorganic-organic carbon-based nanocomposites of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets enlarged with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were decorated to provide a suitable space forin situgrowth of CoNi2S4and green-synthesized ZnO nanoparticles. The ensuing nanocarrier supplied π-π interactions between the DOX drug and a stabilizing agent derived from leaf extracts on the surface of ZnO nanoparticles and hydrogen bonds; gene delivery of (p)CRISPR was also facilitated by chitosan and alginate renewable macromolecules. Also, these polymers can inhibit the potential interactions between the inorganic parts and cellular membranes to reduce the potential cytotoxicity.... 

Herein, a simple and novel method was used to synthesize a new structure of graphene which can be called hollow graphene. First, the ZnO-Graphene QDs synthesized by solution method and then ZnO QDs were dissolved from this structure using an acidic solution to obtain hollow structure of graphene. Afterward, this structure was used in PbS QDs solar cell in order to improve the transport of electron and decrease the recombination of the carriers. A power conversion efficiency of 5.3% was obtained using hollow graphene as a fast electron extraction layer due to the enhancement of EQE and current density. The improvement of PCE in this device was corresponded to efficient photosensitized... 

In this study, nanostructure zinc oxide (ZnO) films with different thicknesses were sprayed on glass substrates by controlling deposition time. Morphology and roughness of the films were investigated with scanning electron and atomic force microscopes as well as X-ray diffractometer. Considering with structure and surface roughness, two different growth modes as a function of spray time were determined: lateral and vertical modes which were illustrated schematically. Optical properties including photoluminescence, transmission, optical band gap and refractive index as a function of film's thickness and structure were studied. It was observed that the average transmittance is more than 80% in... 

ZnO Nanorods (NRs) are deposited on glass substrate using the hydrothermal method by applying a strategic growth control to improve their aspect ratios. In this research, the aspect ratio was tuned by tailoring the synthesis parameters, including the seed layer annealing temperature, absence/presence of polyethylenimine (PEI) in the growth solution, and the solution preheating process. The effects of these parameters on the morphology, crystal structure, room temperature photoluminescence properties, and current-voltage characteristics were examined by FESEM, XRD, PL, and I-V measurements. It was demonstrated that by varying the seed layer annealing temperature and presence of PEI solution... 

In this study, the effects of TiO2 addition on the physical and photoelectrochemical properties of ZnO thin films have been investigated. The (TiO2)x-(ZnO)1-x nanocomposite thin films were dip-coated on both glass and indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated conducting glass substrates with various values of x, specifically 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5. Optical properties of the samples were studied by UV-vis spectrophotometry in the range of 300-1100 nm. The optical spectra of the nanocomposite thin films showed high transparency in the visible region. The optical bandgap energy of the (TiO2)x-(ZnO)1-x films increased slightly with increasing values of x. The crystalline structure of the nanocomposite... 

Zinc oxide thin films were deposited on soda-lime glass substrates from an aqueous zinc- containing complex by two-stage chemical deposition (TSCD) method. Longmuir adsorption model showed that the adsorption of atoms on the surface of the substrate was typically physical. The relation between the fractional coverage, θ, with the equilibrium constant of the adsorption reaction was nonlinear indicating that the adsorption was non-ideal. The percentage of porosity, 1-θ, of the thin layer was determined as a function of Zn 2+ concentration of the solution. By application of XRD technique, it was shown that pure crystalline ZnO of controllable thickness could be deposited by TSCD method on the...