Template-guided growth of well-aligned ZnO nanocone arrays on FTO substrate

Well-aligned ZnO nanocone arrays (NCAs) were prepared on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates using highly ordered ZnO nanorod arrays (NRAs) as templates to guide the growth via a hydrothermal method. In contrast, only disordered ZnO nanocones on FTO were obtained in the absence of the highly ordered ZnO nanorod templates. The well-aligned ZnO nanocone arrays were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible absorption, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies. It was found that the highly ordered ZnO NRAs pre-formed on FTO played a critical role in dictating the further growth of the well-aligned ZnO NCAs from them. Significantly, strong light-trapping effect was revealed for the well-aligned ZnO NCAs, which may find important applications in, e.g., photovoltaics. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.