Figure 3 SEM images of different samples with varying magnifications. (a,b) The as-grown ZnO nanoflowers; (c,d) the nanoflowers coated by a ZnO thin film with a thickness of 15 nm by ALD; (e,f) the nanoflowers coated by the ZnO thin films with the thicknesses of 30 and 45

nm, respectively. Figure 4 shows the TEM images of the ZnO stalk coated with 15-nm ZnO thin film. As shown in the HRTEM image in Figure 4b, the sideward regions of the ZnO stalk show a distinct layered structure, which can be attributed to the coated ZnO thin film, implying that the coated thin film is also crystalline and its orientation is the same as the as-grown ZnO nanoflowers. From this image we can Transmembrane Transporters inhibitor suggest that the coated ZnO thin films by ALD are epitaxial. There are some amorphous regions with the thickness of several angstroms at the boundary, which may be due to the electron beams in the process of the TEM. Figure 4 TEM and HRTEM images of the see more ZnO stalk coated by a ZnO thin film. TEM image of the ZnO stalk coated by a ZnO thin film with a thickness of 15 nm by ALD (a) and the HRTEM image of this sample (b). The layered structure can be observed in

the sideward regions of the ZnO stalk, which is corresponding to the coated ZnO films. To confirm that our ZnO thin films are epitaxial, we performed the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) measurement find more of our samples. The TEM image of the ZnO stalk coated with 45-nm ZnO thin films is shown in Figure 5a, and the corresponding SAED image is shown in Figure 5b. From the SAED image, it can be concluded that the ZnO stalk is grown along c-axis. Moreover, there is only one set of diffraction lattice, which is attributed to ZnO. Hence, we can claim that our coated ZnO thin mafosfamide film is epitaxial; otherwise, there will be another diffraction spots or rings.

Figure 5 TEM image of a ZnO stalk and corresponding SAED image. The TEM image of a ZnO stalk coated with 45-nm ZnO thin film (a) and the corresponding SAED image (b). Only one set of lattice due to the ZnO can be observed. The room-temperature PL spectra of the as-grown and coated samples are presented in Figure 6. As shown, the spectrum of as-grown ZnO nanoflowers (the black crosses) displays a dominant deep level emission around 520 nm, contrasting to a weak band-edge transition peak around 380 nm. It is well known that the deep-level emissions were from zinc interstitials or oxygen vacancies. According to our preparation method of the ZnO nanoflowers, the most possible defects may be that zinc cannot be oxidized sufficiently, which will induce the oxygen vacancies or zinc interstitials, leading to a strong deep-level emissions. The ratio of the intensity of the band-edge transition to that of the deep-level emissions is used to reveal the effect from the deep-level emissions. For the as-grown sample, this ratio α is about 0.28.