Study of nanosized Zinc Oxide on Cu–Zn alloy substrate using Taguchi method

A Cu–Zn alloy with about 30 wt.% Zn was used as substrate for the growth of nanosized zinc oxides (ZnO). Before growth of ZnO, a Ni layer was coated on the substrate by electrodeposition technique. This Ni layer was used as a barrier against the diffusion of Zn and as a promoter for the growth of nanosized ZnO. The variables for the ZnO growth contained current density and time for electrodeposition of Ni layer, growth temperature, growth time, mixed gas flow rate, gas ratio of O2/CH4, flow rate of N2 gas for carrying H2O vapor, and temperature of water for producing H2O vapor. The nanosized ZnOs were characterized by a scanning electron microscope for morphology and an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope for composition. The Taguchi method was used to find the optimum parameters for optimizing the growth of nanosized ZnOs. The result showed that the optimum conditions are: 6 A/dm2 of electrodeposition current density, 30 s of electrodeposition time, 800 °C of growth temperature, 30 min of growth time, 100 sccm of mixed gas flow rate, 1:2 of O2/CH4 ratio, 300 sccm of N2 gas, and 55 °C of water.