Low-temperature growth of ZnO nanorods on PET fabrics with two-step hydrothermal method

An effective low-temperature growth method to fabricate hexagonally oriented ZnO nanorod arrays onto PET fabrics is reported. The effect of substrate pre-treatment and C6H12N4 concentration on the structure of ZnO nanorod arrays were investigated in details by X-ray diffraction (XRD), FE-SEM and ultraviolet protection factor (UPF). The results show that substrate pre-treatment, C6H12N4 concentration indeed have great influence on the growth of ZnO nanorod arrays. It is indispensable to introduce a ZnO seed layer on the substrate and under growth condition of n(C6H12N4):n[Zn(NO3)2] = 1:1, T = 90 °C, t = 3 h, the well-aligned ZnO nanorod arrays with 40–50 nm in diameter and 300–400 nm in length were achieved on the pre-treated PET fabrics. The ZnO nanorods grown on PET fabrics possessed an ultrahigh ultraviolet protection factor of 480.52 in this study, indicating an excellent protection against ultraviolet radiation in comparison with the untreated PET fabrics.