Investigation and Characterization of ZnO Nanostructures Synthesized by Electrochemical Deposition

ZnO with cube-like nanostructures have been fabricated on tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates via electrochemical deposition method. The electrolytes used containing equimolar of zinc chloride (ZnCl2) and potassium chloride (KCl) ranging from 0.05 M to 0.2 M. The samples produced subsequently were examined by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), x-ray diffractometer (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and current transient profile. The average size of the cube-like nano ZnO materials, as observed from FESEM images is decreased from 207 nm to 102 nm with increasing of electrolytes concentration. The XRD measurement indicated that the as-deposited nanostructures are converted from amorphous to hexagonal wurtzite ZnO phase after heat treatment at 600 °C for 3 hours. Photoresponse measurement revealed that the grown sample is sensitive to the 372 nm ultraviolet (UV) light.