Sulfur-Doped Zinc Oxide (ZnO) Nanostars: Synthesis and Simulation of Growth Mechanism
Abstract
We present a bottom-up synthesis, spectroscopic characterization, and ab initio simulations of star-shaped hexagonal zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires. The ZnO nanostructures were synthesized by a low-temperature hydrothermal growth method. The cross-section of the ZnO nanowires transformed from a hexagon to a hexagram when sulfur dopants from thiourea [SC(NH2)2] were added into the growth solution, but no transformation occurred when urea (OC(NH2)2) was added. Comparison of the X-ray photoemission and photoluminescence spectra of undoped and sulfur-doped ZnO confirmed that sulfur is responsible for the novel morphology. Large-scale theoretical calculations were conducted to understand the role of sulfur doping in the growth process. The ab initio simulations demonstrated that the addition of sulfur causes a local change in charge distribution that is stronger at the vertices than at the edges, leading to the observed transformation from hexagon to hexagram nanostructures.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA552483
Entities
People
- Erica Lin
- Henry O. Everitt
- Jay G. Simmons Jr.
- Jianqiu Yang
- Jie Liu
- Jinhyun Cho
- John V. Foreman
- Jungsang Kim
- Qiubao Lin
- Sungwoo Yang
- Weitao Yang
- Yingwen Cheng