Face-selective tungstate ions drive zinc oxide nanowire growth direction and dopant incorporation

Tailoring the elemental doping of inorganic nanowires remains an important challenge due to complex dopant incorporation pathways. Here we report that the face-selectivity of tungstate ions controls growth direction and dopant incorporation of hydrothermal zinc oxide nanowires. The introduction of tungstate ions on nanowire surface during synthesis unexpectedly enhances nucleation at sidewall $$\left\{ {10\bar 10} \right\}$$ planes, while dopant incorporation occurs only on (0001) planes. This conflicting face-selective behavior leads to inhomogeneous dopant distribution. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the face-selective behavior can be interpreted in terms of the effect of coordination structure of the tungstate ions on each zinc oxide crystal plane. In addition, we demonstrate a rational strategy to control the morphology and the elemental doping of tungsten-doped zinc oxide nanowires. Controlling the growth processes of nanowires is vital for tailoring their properties. Here, the presence of tungstate ions on specific surface planes of zinc oxide nanowires causes nanowire growth and chemical doping along specific crystal planes.