Effects of deposition temperature and chemical composition on the ZnO crystal growth on the surface of Pd catalyst through electroless chemical reaction

Zinc oxide (ZnO) was site-selectively grown on the palladium (Pd) catalyst through the electroless deposition process under mild conditions, and the effects of deposition temperature and chemical composition on the ZnO crystal growth were investigated. ZnO crystals were synthesized on the UV-patterned Pd catalysts in the aqueous solutions of various dimethylamine borane (DMAB)/Zn(NO3)2 ratio at 30–70 °C. The site-selective deposition was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data and elemental maps of Pd, Zn and oxygen in energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM), and the crystal morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A strong near band emission at around 390 nm and a weak green emission at around 470 nm were observed in the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum. The ZnO crystals were grown in the following three steps: (1) ZnO fibrils were generated on the Pd catalysts and became sphere-like particles, (2) hexagonal wurtzite crystals initiated to grow from the sphere-like particles, and (3) the crystals grew in two directions—longitudinal and lateral growths giving rod-type or needle-type hexagonal crystals. It was found that longitudinal growth rate increased with increasing deposition temperature or DMAB/Zn(NO3)2 ratio.