Comparative study of ZnO and CuSCN semiconducting nanowire electrodeposition on different substrates

In this study, we are reporting on the electrochemical deposition of two kinds of semiconducting nanowires (ZnO and CuSCN) on different substrates. ZnO and CuSCN are n- and p-type transparent semiconductors whose electrochemical preparation has some similarity, and it is a combination of two steps: an electrochemical reduction with consecutive chemical precipitation. Here, we show that despite the different physicochemical nature of the studied materials, when they are deposited electrochemically, their dimensions depend mainly on the surface state of the used substrate. Thus, depending on the substrate morphology, nanowires with diameters between 50 and 380 nm from both semiconductors could be grown. It is also shown that ZnO and CuSCN nanowires could be successfully grown on glass and plastic substrates as well as on a metallic one. The possibility of growing these transparent semiconductors on flexible substrates opens new perspectives for their use in “invisible” electronic devices.