Effects of etching parameters on ZnO nanotubes evolved from hydrothermally synthesized ZnO nanorods

Abstract This paper reports fabrication and characterization of ZnO nanotubes on Au cylindrical spirals. Highly oriented single-crystalline ZnO nanorods were hydrothermally synthesized on Au cylindrical spirals and were etched in NaOH solution to form nanotubes. Effects of etching parameters on the lengths, wall thicknesses and morphologies of the ZnO nanotubes were studied with the etching period, etching temperature and NaOH concentration regulated respectively. It turns out that the etching parameters affect significantly the morphologies of the ZnO nanotubes but negligibly the lengths and wall thicknesses. The surfaces of the ZnO nanotube-coated Au cylindrical spirals tend to be Gaussian rough ones as the etching parameters become larger. Adjusting the etching temperature readily gives rise to perfect ZnO nanotubes. The results are beneficial for large-scale preparation of ZnO nanotubes with controllable sizes and morphologies in nanodevices.