Abstract
ZnO nanostructures with Ga doping prepared by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition developed an interesting nanopagoda shape with exposed {1121}, {1122}, {2201}, and {1101} lateral planes instead of {1010} and {1120} in the usually observed ZnO nanorods or nanowires. The types of exposed planes strongly affect those properties relating to surface reactivity. In this work, we report the opto-electrical properties and chemical reactivity of the Ga-doped ZnO nanopagodas and ZnO nanowires. Ultraviolet responses of photodetectors demonstrated that Ga-doped ZnO nanopagodas not only possessed a faster electron-hole generation and recombination rate but also exhibited higher photocatalytic activities than the ZnO nanowires. The improved performance of Ga-doped ZnO nanopagodas is due to the enhanced O2 and H2O chemisorption reactivity of the {1121}, {1122}, {2201}, and {1101} planes relative to the {1010} and {1120} planes. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry.