Polymer Sphere Array Assisted ZnO Electroless Deposition

Abstract

ZnO uniform films were deposited on polymer sphere arrays by an electroless technique. The low-dimensional ZnO particles were grown from an aqueous solution of zinc nitrate and dimethylamineborane. The X-ray diffraction studies demonstrate that the ZnO crystallites have a hexagonal wurtzite structure. The scanning electron microscopy images prove that ZnO hexagonal prisms are synthesized with a fairly uniform diameter of around 200 nm. From the contact angle measurements it was found that the electroless deposition on polymer sphere arrays of semiconductor hexagonal prisms leads to an improvement of ZnO hydrophobic properties.

Keywords:

• Electroless deposition
• Polymer sphere array
• Scanning electron microscopy
• ZnO hexagonal prisms

Acknowledgments

Authors thank to Marcela Socol for supplying the AFM images and to Irina Zgura for contact angle measurements. Nicoleta Preda gratefully acknowledges the financial support by the National Fellowship UNESCO-L'OREAL “For Women in Science” and by the CNCSIS-UEFISCSU, Project number PNII-RU code 59/2010 (Contract no. 18/28.07.2010).