Development of zinc-oxide nanorods on chemically etched zinc plates suitable for high-efficiency photovoltaics solar cells

Zinc-oxide (ZnO) nanostructures including nanorods are currently considered pioneer research of interest worldwide due to their excellent application potentials in various applied fields including the improvement of conversion efficiency of photovoltaics solar cells (PSC). We report on the growth and morphological properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods grown on the surface of plain zinc (non-etched and chemically etched) plates by using a simple, economical, and environment-friendly technique. We apply the hot water treatment (HWT) technique to grow the ZnO nanorods and vary the process parameters, such as temperature and the process time duration. The morphological, and elemental analysis confirms the agglomeration of multiple ZnO nanorods with its proper stoichiometry. The obtained nanostructures for different temperatures with different time duration show the variation in uniformity, density, thickness, and size of the nanorods. The ZnO nanorods produced on the etched zinc surface are found thicker and uniform as compared to those grown on the non-etched zinc surface. This chemically etched Zinc plate preparation can be an easy solution to grow ZnO nanorods with high density and uniformity suitable for the development of next-generation PSCs with higher conversion efficiency.