Crystal Growth and Design of Disk/Filament ZnO-Decorated 1D TiO(2) Composite Ceramics for Photoexcited Device Applications

Disk- and filament-like ZnO crystals were decorated on one-dimensional TiO(2) nanostructures (TiO(2)–ZnO) through various integrated physical and chemical synthesis methods. The morphology of the ZnO crystals on TiO(2) varied with the chemical synthesis method used. ZnO nanodisks decorated with TiO(2) nanorods (TiO(2)–ZnO–C) were synthesized using the chemical bath deposition method, and ZnO filament-like crystals decorated with TiO(2) nanorods (TiO(2)–ZnO–H) were synthesized through the hydrothermal method. Compared with the pristine TiO(2) nanorods, the as-synthesized TiO(2)–ZnO composites exhibited enhanced photophysiochemical performance. Furthermore, because of their fast electron transportation and abundant surface active sites, the ZnO nanodisks in the TiO(2)–ZnO–C composite exhibited a higher photoactivity than those in the TiO(2)–ZnO–H composite. The morphology and crystal quality of the ZnO decoration layer were manipulated using different synthesis methods to realize disk- or filament-like ZnO-decorated TiO(2) composites with various photoactive performance levels.