Enhanced luminescence and photocurrent of organic microrod/ZnO nanoparticle hybrid system: Nanoscale optical and electrical characteristics

We studied the enhanced photoluminescence (PL) and photocurrent (PC) of 1,4-bis(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)styryl)-2,5-dibromobenzene (TSDB) microrods decorated with ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). Chemically synthesized crystalline ZnO NPs with an average size of 40 nm were functionalized with (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane to result in the chemical bonding of the NPs onto the surface of the TSDB microrods. We observed a 2-fold PL enhancement in the ZnO/TSDB hybrid microrods compared with the PL of the pure TSDB microrods. In addition, PC measurement carried out on the TSDB and ZnO/TSDB hybrid microrods at two different excitation wavelengths of 355 nm and 405 nm showed the significant enhancement of the PC from the hybrid system, where the resonant excitation of the laser (355 nm) corresponding to the absorption of both ZnO and TSDB caused ∼3 times enhancement of the PC from the ZnO/TSDB hybrid microrods. [Figure not available: see fulltext.][Figure not available: see fulltext.]