Thorn-like ZnO/CNT composites via the hydrothermal method with different seed layer

This paper studies the preparation of a zinc oxide (ZnO) seed layer deposited onto carbon nanotubes (CNTs) via RF sputtering, and the growth of ZnO/CNT composite via the hydrothermal method. The ZnO "thorns" have been successfully deposited on CNT "stems." The research focuses on the ZnO seed layer with different sputtering times and annealing processes. A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation showed that the length and amount of ZnO thorns decreased with increased sputtering time of the seed layer. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that the ZnO crystalline structures improved after the seed layer, annealing at peaks of (100), (002), and (101). The results of Raman spectra showed that the ZnO seed layer deposited onto the CNTs, and the annealing, caused damage to the CNTs, reducing the I-G/I-D ratio from 0.9 to 0.5. Furthermore, the highest UV emission of thorn-like ZnO/CNTs occurred at a peak of 380 nm with seed layer deposition time of 2 min, after annealing. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America