Synthesis, structural and optical properties of silver nanoparticles uniformly decorated ZnO nanowires

Highlights: • A-ZnO nanowires have been firstly synthesized by two-step CVD and MS. • The morphologies and structure of A-ZnO nanowires are investigated. • The PL properties of A-ZnO nanowires are investigated. • The mechanism of PL for A-ZnO nanowires is analyzed. Silver (Ag) nanoparticles decorated Zinc oxide (A-ZnO) nanowires have been successfully synthesized by two-step chemical vapour deposition and magnetron sputtering method. The X-ray diffraction patterns revealed their hexagonal wurtzite structure. SEM images indicated the Ag nanoparticles are distributed uniformly on the surface of A-ZnO nanowires. By extending the sputtering time, the atomic percent of Ag increased gradually. Moreover, the photoluminescence results demonstrated two major emission peaks for the A-ZnO nanowires. Where, the visible emission peaks were stronger than those of unmodified ZnO nanowires. These studies promise their potential applications in multifunctional optical devices.