Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO Nanowires using CVD Method

Gas sensors are devices that can convert the concentration of an analyte gas into an electronic signal. Zinc oxide (ZnO) is an important n-type metal oxide semiconductor which has been utilized as sensor for several decades. In recent years, there have been extensive investigations of nanoscale semiconductor gas sensors. In this research high-quality zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires have been synthesized by vapour-Liquid-solid (VLS) method. Surface morphology, structural and optical properties of the ZnO nanowires were examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM), XRD analysis demonstrated that the ZnO nanowires has a wurtzite structure with orientation of (101) and the nanowires prepared at 900°C has a better crystalline quality than samples prepared at other temperatures. SEM results indicate that by increasing the oxidation temperature, the dimensions of the ZnO nanowires increase. The optimum temperature for synthesizing high density, ZnO nanowires was determined to be 900 °C.