ABSTRACT:
In this work, a low-temperature hydrothermal technique was successfully employed to synthesize pure Al-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures on flexible hBN/Cu substrates.The structural and optical effects of Aluminum (Al) dopant concentrations ranging from 2 at% to 10 at% were investigated. SEM imaging revealed vertically oriented hexagonal nanowires (NWs) that grew larger and more densely as the doping level increased. A hexagonal wurtzite structure with a preferred (002) orientation at 34.462° was confirmed by XRD analysis. The optical bandgap showed a systematic redshift from 3.20 eV to 3.17 eV, and the grain size, determined by the Debye-Scherrer equation, decreased from 42.1 nm to 18.9 nm as the Al concentration increased. Al-doped ZnO nanostructures possess a tunable bandgap (3.20 eV to 3.17 eV) and prominent Near-Band Edge (NBE) UV emission, with increased doping levels reducing green emission, suggesting enhanced stoichiometry through vacancy passivation. The hBN buffer layer successfully prevents copper diffusion, as demonstrated by EDX, and the 10% Al-doped sample provides flexible UV sensors with a good balance between electrical conductivity and optical clarity. These results demonstrate that the Al-doped ZnO/hBN/Cu combination works as a robust, versatile electrode platform, bridging the gap between high-performance ceramics and wearable electronic devices.
Keywords: Al-ZnO Nanowires, hBN/Cu substrate, flexible electrodes, hydrothermal process, energy harvesting

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