Studies on the PEG-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis and Growth Mechanism of ZnO Microrod and Mesoporous Microsphere Arrays on the Substrate

With the introduction of poly ethylene glycol (PEG) (10000), relatively well dispersed and oriented ZnO microrod arrays and ZnO microsphere arrays were successfully synthesized on unmodified indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate by a hydrothermal method. The growth behaviors of the two different kinds of ZnO arrays were experimentally investigated with variations of PEG addition and the precursor solution's concentration. The PEG-assisted growth mechanism of ZnO microrod arrays and ZnO microsphere arrays has also been carefully discussed. Both the dissolved state of PEG and the interaction between PEG and ZnO crystalline grains were found to play important roles in the fabrication of the two different ZnO structure arrays. The research on PEG-assisted growth mechanism for these two kinds of ZnO structure arrays will provide more theoretical references for preparations of ZnO one-dimensional rod arrays and other kinds of assembled structures on the substrate.