Electrophoretic deposition of ZnO on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite substrates

The electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of ZnO nanoparticles onto highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) chips from a nonaqueous suspension is reported. Deposits are fast fired at 1200 degrees C in vacuum, and lifted off the substrate using Kapton tape. The SEM micrographs revealed exfoliated graphene multilayer flakes on the back surface of the ZnO layers. The I-V characteristics of the ZnO/HOPG junctions demonstrate the atmospheric sensitivity of the junction energy barrier. This is the first report of using HOPG chips as substrates for the EPD of metal oxides. Forming metal oxide/graphene junctions has explicit technical difficulties, and the presented method is anticipated to find niche applications in fabricating wide area metal oxide/graphene multilayer junction devices such as radiation detectors and supercapacitors. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.