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Localized Energy Band Bending in ZnO Nanorods Decorated with Au Nanoparticles

Surface decoration by means of metal nanostructures is an effective way to locally modify the electronic properties of materials. The decoration of ZnO nanorods by means of Au nanoparticles was experimentally investigated and modelled in terms of energy band bending. ZnO nanorods were synthesized by...

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Autores principales: Bruno, Luca, Strano, Vincenzina, Scuderi, Mario, Franzò, Giorgia, Priolo, Francesco, Mirabella, Salvo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8539582/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34685157
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11102718
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author Bruno, Luca
Strano, Vincenzina
Scuderi, Mario
Franzò, Giorgia
Priolo, Francesco
Mirabella, Salvo
author_facet Bruno, Luca
Strano, Vincenzina
Scuderi, Mario
Franzò, Giorgia
Priolo, Francesco
Mirabella, Salvo
author_sort Bruno, Luca
collection PubMed
description Surface decoration by means of metal nanostructures is an effective way to locally modify the electronic properties of materials. The decoration of ZnO nanorods by means of Au nanoparticles was experimentally investigated and modelled in terms of energy band bending. ZnO nanorods were synthesized by chemical bath deposition. Decoration with Au nanoparticles was achieved by immersion in a colloidal solution obtained through the modified Turkevich method. The surface of ZnO nanorods was quantitatively investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry. The Photoluminescence and Cathodoluminescence of bare and decorated ZnO nanorods were investigated, as well as the band bending through Mott–Schottky electrochemical analyses. Decoration with Au nanoparticles induced a 10 times reduction in free electrons below the surface of ZnO, together with a decrease in UV luminescence and an increase in visible-UV intensity ratio. The effect of decoration was modelled with a nano-Schottky junction at ZnO surface below the Au nanoparticle with a Multiphysics approach. An extensive electric field with a specific halo effect formed beneath the metal–semiconductor interface. ZnO nanorod decoration with Au nanoparticles was shown to be a versatile method to tailor the electronic properties at the semiconductor surface.
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spelling pubmed-85395822021-10-24 Localized Energy Band Bending in ZnO Nanorods Decorated with Au Nanoparticles Bruno, Luca Strano, Vincenzina Scuderi, Mario Franzò, Giorgia Priolo, Francesco Mirabella, Salvo Nanomaterials (Basel) Article Surface decoration by means of metal nanostructures is an effective way to locally modify the electronic properties of materials. The decoration of ZnO nanorods by means of Au nanoparticles was experimentally investigated and modelled in terms of energy band bending. ZnO nanorods were synthesized by chemical bath deposition. Decoration with Au nanoparticles was achieved by immersion in a colloidal solution obtained through the modified Turkevich method. The surface of ZnO nanorods was quantitatively investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry. The Photoluminescence and Cathodoluminescence of bare and decorated ZnO nanorods were investigated, as well as the band bending through Mott–Schottky electrochemical analyses. Decoration with Au nanoparticles induced a 10 times reduction in free electrons below the surface of ZnO, together with a decrease in UV luminescence and an increase in visible-UV intensity ratio. The effect of decoration was modelled with a nano-Schottky junction at ZnO surface below the Au nanoparticle with a Multiphysics approach. An extensive electric field with a specific halo effect formed beneath the metal–semiconductor interface. ZnO nanorod decoration with Au nanoparticles was shown to be a versatile method to tailor the electronic properties at the semiconductor surface. MDPI 2021-10-14 /pmc/articles/PMC8539582/ /pubmed/34685157 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11102718 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Bruno, Luca
Strano, Vincenzina
Scuderi, Mario
Franzò, Giorgia
Priolo, Francesco
Mirabella, Salvo
Localized Energy Band Bending in ZnO Nanorods Decorated with Au Nanoparticles
title Localized Energy Band Bending in ZnO Nanorods Decorated with Au Nanoparticles
title_full Localized Energy Band Bending in ZnO Nanorods Decorated with Au Nanoparticles
title_fullStr Localized Energy Band Bending in ZnO Nanorods Decorated with Au Nanoparticles
title_full_unstemmed Localized Energy Band Bending in ZnO Nanorods Decorated with Au Nanoparticles
title_short Localized Energy Band Bending in ZnO Nanorods Decorated with Au Nanoparticles
title_sort localized energy band bending in zno nanorods decorated with au nanoparticles
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8539582/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34685157
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11102718
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