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Hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanorods on electrospun polyamide nanofibers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2013

Thushara J. Athauda ,
Umaiz Butt  and
Ruya R. Ozer
Thushara J. Athauda
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Keplinger Hall, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104
Umaiz Butt
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104
Ruya R. Ozer*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, Keplinger Hall, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104
*
Address all correspondence to Dr. Ruya R. Ozer at ruya-ozer@utulsa.edu
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Abstract

We report for the first time the hydrothermal growth of radially aligned ZnO nanorods on electrospun polyamide nanofibers, paving the way to the development of transparent, flexible, portable, solution processable, and low-cost thin-film photovoltaics. Polyamide nanofibers with mean diameters of 100 nm were prepared by electrospinning followed by a two-step hydrothermal growth method for fabricating ZnO nanorods. The loading ratio of ZnO nanorods were found to be 66 wt% by thermogravimetric analysis, significantly higher than the ZnO grown on cotton and nylon fabrics previously. A significant increase of UV absorption was observed. Superhydrophobicity, which is a desirable feature of self-cleaning photovoltaic devices, was achieved using 1-dodecanethiol modification.

Type
Research Letters
Information
MRS Communications , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , March 2013 , pp. 51 - 55
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013

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