Growth and physical properties of three-dimensional flower-like zinc oxide microcrystals

This study reports the synthesis of ZnO flower-like structures of different sizes on polycrystalline zinc foils by cathodic electrodeposition. X-ray diffraction results indicate that the obtained flower-like ZnO microcrystals had a wurtzite structure. Scanning electron microscopy images reveal that the flower-like ZnO microcrystals consisted of taper petals. The precursor concentration and electrodepositing potential had significant effects on the size of the flower-like ZnO microcrystals. An increase in precursor concentration and electrodepositing potential caused an increase in the size of the ZnO flower-like structures. The flower-like ZnO microcrystals, with an approximate petal length of 0.8–1.6 μm, exhibited a strong UV emission at room temperature, while those with a petal length of 3.0–4.2 μm produced noticeably yellow emissions.