Morphology-dependent field emission properties and wetting behavior of ZnO nanowire arrays

The fabrication of three kinds of ZnO nanowire arrays with different structural parameters over Au-coated silicon (100) by facile thermal evaporation of ZnS precursor is reported, and the growth mechanism are proposed based on structural analysis. Field emission (FE) properties and wetting behavior were revealed to be strongly morphology dependent. The nanowire arrays in small diameter and high aspect ratio exhibited the best FE performance showing a low turn-on field (4.1 V/μm) and a high field-enhancement factor (1745.8). The result also confirmed that keeping large air within the films was an effective way to obtain super water-repellent properties. This study indicates that the preparation of ZnO nanowire arrays in an optimum structural model is crucial to FE efficiency and wetting behavior.