Ultra-stable ZnO nanobelts in electrochemical environments

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) has been widely considered as a promising candidate in electro-chemical devices due to the high electrical transport performance and easy-fabrication. However, the active chemical properties of ZnO nanobelts restrict their application in practical electro-chemical devices. Here, we adopted an indium doping strategy to improve the corrosion resistance of ZnO nanobelts. Compared with other atomic doping methods, the indium doping method not only formed several layers of indium atoms in the body of ZnO nanobelts but also created a Zn_xIn_1−xO passivated layer on the ZnO nanobelt surface. After doping indium atoms into ZnO nanobelts, the self-corrosion potential increased and the self-corrosion current decreased which greatly reduced its corrosion rate in the electrochemical solution. Furthermore, the electrical transport properties of indium-doped zinc oxide (In–ZnO) nanobelts presented ultrahigh stability even after being soaked in the electrochemical solution for 43 hours. The enhanced anticorrosive quasi-2D ZnO nanobelts offer a promising development of ZnO-based electro-chemical devices.