Silver nanowires effect on photoluminescence of ZnO films deposited on different substrates with graphene oxide paper

Graphene oxide (GO) paper and Ag nanowires/GO compound (Ag NWs/GO) paper are fabricated by vacuum filtration method, and then ZnO films are deposited on GO paper and Ag NWs/GO paper, respectively, using magnetron sputtering. Morphology, crystal structure, and optical properties are analyzed. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that the residual tensile stress in ZnO on the Ag NWs/GO paper decrease, which is ascribed to the compressive stress in Ag NWs compensates the residual tensile stress due to lattice displace between ZnO and GO paper. The PL spectrum of ZnO film deposited on GO paper clearly shows a broad blue emission peak at 450 nm. Interestingly, PL from ZnO film on Ag NWs/GO paper not only the blue band is completely quenched but also shows a new ultraviolet (UV) peak at 396 nm compared to that of ZnO on GO paper. In addition, the Ag NWs/GO paper is irradiated 40 min by UV light, and then ZnO are deposited on the Ag NWs/GO paper. The intensity of UV peak at 396 nm increased compared to that of ZnO on the as prepared Ag NWs/GO paper. We proposed that Ag NWs acting as an electron acceptor can effectively modulate defect related emissions in ZnO by forming the depletion layer between the ZnO and GO interfaces.