Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
SpringerLink
Log in

Production of ZnO Cauliflowers Using the Spray Pyrolysis Method

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Sustainable Building for a Cleaner Environment

Part of the book series: Innovative Renewable Energy ((INREE))

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a semiconductor material with direct wide bandgap energy (3.37 eV) and a large exciton binding energy (60meV) at room temperature. It currently attracts worldwide intense interests because of its importance in fundamental studies, and its numerous applications, especially as optoelectronic materials, UV lasers, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, nanogenerators, gas sensors, photodetectors, and photocatalyst. ZnO micro−/nano-cauliflower arrays are of potential use for electrochemical sensing, dye-sensitized solar cells, an electron transporting layer, and photocatalytic applications.

In this work, ZnO cauliflowers were produced as thin films on glass substrates at a substrate temperature of 350 ± 5°C using the low-cost spray pyrolysis (SP) method. Zinc chloride (ZnCl2) was used to prepare the precursor solution. The produced films were characterized using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy and X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM- EDS). X-ray diffractogram revealed that the films have hexagonal structure with preferential orientation along the (002) line. EDS analysis showed that the films are nonstoichiometric and they contain chlorine. ImageJ software was used to estimate the size distributions of the cauliflowers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Nipane D, Thakare SR, Khati NT (2013) Synthesis of novel ZnO having cauliflower morphology for photocatalytic degradation study. J Catal, Article ID 940345, 8 p

    Google Scholar 

  2. Lu F, Cai W, Zhang Y (2008) ZnO hierarchical micro/nanoarchitectures: solvothermal synthesis and structurally enhanced photocatalytic performance. Adv Funct Mater 18(7):1047–1056

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Qu J, Luo C, Cong Q (2011) Synthesis of multi-walled carbon nanotubes/ZnO nanocomposites using absorbent cotton. Nano-Micro Lett 3:115–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Chu S, Wang G, Zhou W, Lin Y, Chernyak L, Zhao J, Kong J, Li L, Ren J, Liu J (2011) Electrically pumped waveguide lasing from ZnO nanowires. Nat Nanotechnol 6(8):506–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Na JH, Kitamura M, Arita M, Arakawa Y (2009) Hybrid pn junction light-emitting diodes based on sputtered ZnO and organic semiconductors. Appl Phys Lett 95(25):253303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Sudhagar P, Kumar RS, Jung JH, Cho W, Sathyamoorthy R, Won J, Kang YS (2011) Facile synthesis of highly branched jacks-like ZnO nanorods and their applications in dye-sensitized solar cells. Mater Res Bull 46(9):1473–1479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Wang ZL, Yang R, Zhou J, Qin Y, Xu C, Hu Y, Xu S (2010) Lateral nanowire/nanobelt based nanogenerators, piezotronics and piezo-phototronics. Mater Sci Eng R 70(3–6):320–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Xu J, Han J, Zhang Y, Sun Y, Xie B (2008) Studies on alcohol sensing mechanism of ZnO based gas sensors. Sensors Actuators B 132(1):334–339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Lu CY, Chang SJ, Chang SP, Lee CT, Kuo CF, Chang HM (2006) Ultraviolet photodetectors with ZnO nanowires prepared on ZnO:Ga/glass templates. Appl Phys Lett 89(15):153101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cho S, Kim S, Jang JW, Jung SH, Oh E, Lee BR, Lee KH (2009) Large-scale fabrication of sub-20-nm-diameter ZnO nanorod arrays at room temperature and their photocatalytic activity. J Phys Chem C 113(24):10452–10458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Yamaguchi I, Watanabe M, Shinagawa T, Chigane M, Inaba M, Tasaka A, Izaki M (2009) ZnO nano-cauliflower array dye-sensitized solar cells. ECS Trans 16(36):3–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. He C, Sasaki T, Shimizu Y, Koshizaki N (2008) Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles by pulsed laser ablation in aqueous media and their self assembly towards spindle-like ZnO aggregates. Appl Surf Sci 254:2196–2202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Fan XM, Lian JS, Guo ZX, Lu HJ (2005) Microstructure and photoluminescence properties of ZnO thin films grown by PLD on Si(1 1 1) substrates. Appl Surf Sci 239:176–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Ko TS, Yang S, Hsu HC, Chu CP, Lin HF, Liao SC, Lu TC, Kuo HC, Hsieh WF, Wang SC (2006) ZnO nanopowders fabricated by dc thermal plasma synthesis. Mater Sci Eng B 134:54–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Zhang DH, Xue ZY, Wang QP (2002) The mechanisms of blue emission from ZnO films deposited on glass substrate by r.f. magnetron sputtering. J Phys D Appl Phys 35:2837–2840

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Wang Y, Cui X, Zhang Y, Gao X, Sun Y (2013) Preparation of cauliflower-like ZnO films by chemical bath deposition: photovoltaic performance and equivalent circuit of dye-sensitized solar cells. J Mat Sci Tech 29(2):123–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Rajabi M, Dariani RS, Iraji A, Zahedi F (2013) Optoelectronic properties of cauliflower like ZnO-ZnO nanorod/p-Si heterostructure. Solid State Electron 90:33–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Ikhmayies SJ (2016) Synthesis of ZnO microrods by the spray pyrolysis technique. J Electron Mater 45(8):3964–3969

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Ikhmayies SJ, Abu El-Haija NM, Ahmad-Bitar RN (2014) A comparison between different ohmic contacts for ZnO thin films. J Semicond 36(3):033005-1-6

    Google Scholar 

  20. Ikhmayies SJ, Naseem M, El-Haija A, Ahmad-Bitar RN (2010) Electrical and optical properties of ZnO:Al thin film prepared by the spray pyrolysis technique. Phys Scr 81(1):art. no.015703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Ikhmayies SJ, Abu El-Haija NM, Ahmad-Bitar RN (2010) Characterization of undoped spray-deposited ZnO thin films of photovoltaic applications. FDMP: Fluid Dyn Mat Process 6(2):165–178

    Google Scholar 

  22. Ikhmayies SJ, Abu El-Haija NM, Ahmad-Bitar RN (2010) The influence of annealing in nitrogen atmosphere on the electrical, optical and structural properties of spray- deposited ZnO thin films. FDMP: Fluid Dyn Mat Process 6(2):219–232

    Google Scholar 

  23. Ikhmayies SJ, Zbib MB (2017) Spray pyrolysis synthesis of ZnO micro/nanorods on glass substrate. J Electron Mater 46:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Ikhmayies SJ (2017) Formation of three dimensional ZnO micro flowers from self assembled ZnO micro discs. Metall Mater Trans A 48(8):3625–3629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Ikhmayies SJ, Zbib MB (2017) Synthesis of ZnO hexagonal micro discs on glass substrates using the spray pyrolysis technique. J Electron Mater 46(7):3982–3986

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Juwhari HK, Ikhmayies SJ, Lahlouh B (2017) Room temperature photoluminescence of spray-deposited ZnO thin films on glass substrates. Int J Hydrogen Energy 42:17741–17747

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Wang LL, Wang HY, Wang WC, Li K, Wang XC, Li XJ (2013) Capacitive humidity sensing properties of ZnO cauliflowers grown on silicon nanoporous pillar array. Sensors Actuators B Chem 177:740–744

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Gordon T, Grinblat J, Margel S (2013) Preparation of “cauliflower-like”. ZnO Micron-Sized Part Mat 6:5234–5246

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Al Isra University, Faculty of Science, Department of Physics, Amman, Jordan

    Shadia J. Ikhmayies

Authors
  1. Shadia J. Ikhmayies
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. World Renewable Energy Congress, Brighton, United Kingdom

    Ali Sayigh

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ikhmayies, S.J. (2019). Production of ZnO Cauliflowers Using the Spray Pyrolysis Method. In: Sayigh, A. (eds) Sustainable Building for a Cleaner Environment. Innovative Renewable Energy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94595-8_32

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94595-8_32

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-94594-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-94595-8

  • eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation