Enhanced surface-related ultraviolet–visible photoresponse in carbothermal ZnO nanowires by intertwined single-walled carbon nanotubes

J Mater Sci (2018) 53:12455–12466 ENERGY MATERIAL S Energy materials Enhanced surface-related ultraviolet–visible photoresponse in carbothermal ZnO nanowires by intertwined single-walled carbon nanotubes 1 1 1 1, Changsong Chen , Yang Ma , Jiang Chen , and Haisheng San * Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China Received: 15 April 2018 ABSTRACT Accepted: 29 May 2018 An intertwined single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)/carbothermal ZnO Published online: nanowires (ZNWs) composite is synthesized using a facile ultrasonic stirring 6 June 2018 technology, which is deposited on Au-interdigitated electrodes for ultraviolet– visible (UV–Vis) photoresponse enhancement. It is found that the SWCNT Springer Science+Business attached on ZNW surface optimizes the surface-related chemical processes and provides effective carrier transport strategies, responsible for the improvement Media, LLC, part of Springer in photo-responsivity and photo-sensing speed. The UV–Vis absorption of Nature 2018 ZNWs has been improved after compositing with the high-conductive SWCNTs, contributing to the significantly improved photo-conductance. The photodetector based on SWCNT/ZNW composites (CZWs) with an optimal SWCNT content of 0.1 wt% shows a 300% improvement in photocurrent den- sity, a 200% improvement in responsivity, and a 400% improvement in on/off current ratio over the pure ZNWs-based device under a UV irradiation of -2 3.26 mW cm and a bias voltage of 1.0 V. This synthetic method could be scaled up for large-scale fabrication of CZWs on substrate at low cost for practical photodetecting applications. (ZNWs) have been successfully synthesized by sev- Introduction eral techniques, enabling their surfaces different chemical activities [7]. Finally, ZNWs are a low-cost Among the known one-dimensional (1D) nanomate- material that can be solution-synthesized on a vast rials, zinc oxide (ZnO)...