Novel ZnO nanostructures over gold and silver nanoparticle assemblies

We report the growth of well-oriented nest (reticulum)-like and lotus flower-like submicron structures of ZnO, over gold and silver nanoparticle assemblies, respectively. The structures were grown by a convenient chemical bath deposition method in a nutrient solution made of zinc nitrate (Zn(NO3)2 · 6H2O) and methyl amine (CH3NH2) at low temperature. SEM, XRD, Raman, UV-Vis and fluorescence spectra were used to study the morphology, crystallinity and phase purity of the structures. The ZnO submicron structures were found to be in the hexagonal wurtzite phase. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.