Structurally Nanocrystalline-Electrically Single Crystalline
ZnO-Reduced Graphene Oxide Composites
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Abstract
ZnO,
a wide bandgap semiconductor, has attracted much attention
due to its multifunctionality, such as transparent conducting oxide,
light-emitting diode, photocatalyst, and so on. To improve its performances
in the versatile applications, numerous hybrid strategies of ZnO with
graphene have been attempted, and various synergistic effects have
been achieved in the ZnO–graphene hybrid nanostructures. Here
we report extraordinary charge transport behavior in Al-doped ZnO
(AZO)-reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanocomposites. Although the most
challenging issue in semiconductor nanocomposites is their low mobilities,
the AZO–RGO nanocomposites exhibit single crystal-like Hall
mobility despite the large quantity of nanograin boundaries, which
hinder the electron transport by the scattering with trapped charges.
Because of the significantly weakened grain boundary barrier and the
proper band alignment between the AZO and RGO, freely conducting electrons
across the nanograin boundaries can be realized in the nanocomposites.
This discovery of the structurally nanocrystalline-electrically single
crystalline composite demonstrates a new route for enhancing the electrical
properties in nanocomposites based on the hybrid strategy