Synergistic effects of SPR and FRET on the photoluminescence of ZnO nanorod heterostructures

Solution-grown ZnO nanorods (NRs) were successfully conjugated with CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) and Ag nanoparticles (NPs) to suppress intrinsic defect emission and to enhance band-edge emission at the same time. First, high-density and high-crystallinity ZnO NRs of diameter 80-90nm and length 1.2-1.5νm were grown on glass substrates using a low-temperature seed-assisted solution method. The as-synthesized ZnO NRs showed sharp photoluminescence (PL) band-edge emission centered at ∼ 377nm together with broad defect emission in the range of ∼ 450-800nm. The ZnO NRs were decorated with CdSe/ZnS QDs and Ag NPs, respectively, by sequential drop-coating. The PL of CdSe/ZnS NR conjugates showed that ZnO band-edge emission decreased by 73.8% due to fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and charge separation between ZnO and CdSe/ZnS by type II energy band structure formation. On the other hand, Ag NR conjugates showed increased band-edge emission (by 25.8%) and suppressed defect emission compared to bare ZnO NRs. A possible energy transfer mechanism to explain the improved PL properties of ZnO NRs was proposed based upon the combined effects of FRET and surface plasmon resonance (SPR).