. . . . . . . . . .    ANM 2010     3rd International Conference on Advanced Nano Materials     12-15 September 2010 - Agadir, Morocco Back    Abstract ANMM259 ORDERED HOLLOW URCHIN-LIKE ZnO NANOSTRUCTURES BY ELECTRODEPOSITION FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC APPLICATIONS  J. Elias a), C. Lévy-Clément b), M. Bechelany a), J. Michler b), G. Wang b), Z. Wang a), and L. Philippe a) a) EMPA, Feuerwerkerstrasse 39, 3603 Thun, Switzerland b) ICMPE, CNRS- UMR7182, 2-8, rue Henri Dunant, 94320 Thiais, France . In this contribution, we will present an original approach to fabricate, in a time period compatible with large-scale production, thin films composed of well-ordered hollow urchin-like ZnO nanowires (NWs) with controlled NW and core dimensions. The synthesis method combines together the formation of a polystyrene (PS) microspheres colloidal mono/multilayer and the electrodeposition of ZnO NWs, followed by the elimination of the PS microspheres, which play the role of a template. It is shown for the first time that a compound can be electrodeposited on the surface of polystyrene spheres. The key point is to render the PS spheres electrically active by a treatment in a solution of ZnCl2 at high concentration. We also show that the same process allows to deposit multilayers of ZnO urchins on transparent conductive oxide substrates. The urchins have a hollow core covered by free standing single crystal NWs . The dimension of the NWs can be controlled by varying the constitution of the electrolyte. The urchin-like ZnO thin films exhibit a dramatic improvement of the light scattering in the visible which make them very attractive for application as building-blocks in different types of nanostructured solar cells (organic, hybrid and dye sensitized solar cells) and in a wide variety of applications in optical devices, photonic crystals, and nanodevices. The physical properties of the ZnO structures were investigated by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Optical Spectroscopy. . © nanoAC . . . . . . . . . .

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