The FTO glass coated with ZnO seed layer was prepared by spin-coating
and it was further placed in growth solution to form messy and neat ZnO nanowires(NWs)via hydrothermal growth. By repeating the procedure
branched ZnO NWs were obtained. X-ray diffraction
UV-visible spectrophotometer
and photoelectric conversion test system were employed to analyzed the influences of growth conditions on the morphology and crystal structure of ZnO NWs
and on dye adsorption ratio and conversion efficiency. The results show that the addition of polyethylenimine to the growth solution facilitates the growth of ZnO seed along the optimal crystal face. ZnO NWs are of hexagonal wurtzite structure with good crystallinity. The key factors affecting the formation of branched ZnO NWs are the number of hanging seeds and the heating rate of crystallization heat treatment. Compared with bare ZnO NWs
branched ZnO NWs show higher dye adsorption ratio and conversion efficiency.