Synthesis and Characterization of Functional Nanostructured Zinc Oxide Thin Films

Abstract

A novel aqueous relatively low-temperature thin film growth technique has been developed to fabricate a new generation of smart and functional nanostructured metal oxide thin film materials. This chemical synthetic route uses stable and inexpensive metal inorganic salts and environment-friendly solvents. The nanomaterials are obtained to analyze the physical and structural requirements of their applications in gas sensors and solar cells. The rapid photothermal processing at the 650 ºC of nanostructured zinc oxide leads to the suppression of deep-defect-level emission and improvement of near-band edge emission. The responses of the sensing elements when exposed to 100 ppm ammonia at temperatures between 20 ºC and 300 ºC have been assessed.