Controllable Growth of ZnO Nanorod Arrays on NiO Nanowires and Their High UV Photoresponse Current

Abstract

Three-dimensional architectures composed of one-dimensional nanoscale building blocks are well-known to be able to integrate properties of materials with different dimensions and to derive more advanced performance. In this experiment, ZnO nanorod arrays are controlled to grow on NiO nanowires (NWs) to construct typical comblike nanocomposites by means of ZnO seeding on the surface of NiO NWs and subsequent seeds growth in hydrothermal conditions. The growth mechanism of this complex structure is proposed. Our results indicate that the photoresponse current of UV photosensors of these nanocomposites can be tuned by UV irradiance intensity. The sensor possesses improved UV photoresponse current (about 3.5 mA) under UV illumination (365 nm) of 400 mW cm–2, due to the advantages of composite structure and fine morphology, which reveals that this nanocomposite can be a promising candidate for UV photosensors.