Study of ZnO nanorods decorated by Cu2O, CdS and PbS for Photoelectrochemical Application

Abstract

Fabrication and characterization of a heterojunction structured by CdS, PbS, CuO-Cu2O/ZnO nanorods-array panels were presented. Firstly, ZnO nanorods-array panels were prepared by using a hydrothermal approach where wurtzite ZnO nanorods with a diameter of about 100 nm grew perpendicularly to glass substrate. Secondly, CdS, PbS, CuO-Cu2O nanoparticles were deposited onto the surface of the ZnO nanorods-arrays by using exchange ions method, and the CdS, PbS shell/ZnO core heterojunction were thus obtained. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy results indicate that the CdS, PbS, CuO-Cu2O nanoparticles can be uniformly deposited on the ZnO nanorods arrays and the thickness of the shell can be controlled through varying the number of the adsorption and reaction time. Optical property indicate that the as-fabricated heterojunction structure not only exhibits a high absorption of the incident light in visible region but also can show improved photocurrent with respect to the litterateur results.