Effect of Polyethyleneimine Assisting the Growth of Eu-doped ZnO Nanowire Arrays in Mannich Reaction

In study on the growth reaction mechanism of Eu-doped ZnO nanowire（NW）, the intermedium of reaction is characterized by measures such as FTIR. Besides, the influences of polyethyleneimine（PEI） on morphology, structure and photoelectric property of NW are observed by SEM, TEM, XRD, UV-vis and PL spectrum. According to the result, it manifests that Eu-doped ZnO NW array growth response experiences six mutually associated reaction processes in PEI-HMTA system：（a） chelation reaction of PEI and Zn^2＋ ＆ Eu^3＋;（b） protonation reaction of PEI and NH_3;（c） decomposition reaction of hexamethylenetetramine（HMTA）;（d） Mannich reaction of HCHO and PEI;（e） formation of precursor of Eu-doped ZnO;（f） dehydration condensation of Eu-doped ZnO precursors, further forming a doped ZnO NW array. Among them, PEI is the key factor of the whole doping growth reaction process. It both plays a role in modifying the growth of ZnO NW and makes it become longer and thinner. In the meantime, it also facilitates doping of Eu and enables ZnO NW to capture more photoelectrons and higher transmission rate, which is critical to improve photovoltaic performance of optoelectronic devices.