Controlled Growth of ZnO Nanowire, Nanowall, and Hybrid Nanostructures on Graphene for Piezoelectric Nanogenerators

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the controlled growth of ZnO nanostructures on graphene substrates and their application in piezoelectric nanogenerators, highlighting a novel method for morphology control and device fabrication.

Contribution

It introduces a systematic approach for growing aligned ZnO nanowires and nanowalls on graphene, enabling new piezoelectric nanogenerator designs.

Findings

Vertically aligned ZnO nanostructures were grown on graphene.

A piezoelectric nanogenerator producing direct current was fabricated.

Growth control was achieved without damaging the graphene substrate.

Abstract

Precise control of morphologies of one-dimensional (1D) or 2D nanostructures during growth has not been easily accessible, usually degrading the device performance and therefore limiting applications to various advanced nanoscale electronics and optoelectronics. Graphene could be a platform to serve as a substrate for both morphology control and direct use of electrodes due to its ideal monolayer flatness with {\pi} electrons. Here, we report that by using graphene directly as a substrate, vertically well-aligned ZnO nanowires and nanowalls were obtained systematically by controlling Au catalyst thickness and growth time, without invoking significant thermal damage on the graphene layer during thermal chemical vapor deposition of ZnO at high temperature of about 900 oC. We further demonstrate a piezoelectric nanogenerator that was fabricated from the vertically aligned nanowire-nanowall ZnO hybrid/graphene structure generates a new type of direct current.