8.0 MeV copper ion (Cu⁺⁺) irradiation-induced effects on structural, electrical, optical and electrochemical properties of Co₃O₄-NiO-ZnO/GO nanowires

Co₃O₄-NiO-ZnO/GO nanowires were fabricated with the addition of graphene oxide (GO) obtained by a modified Hummer's method. Nanocomposite powder of Co₃O₄-NiO-ZnO/GO was synthesized using the hydrothermal method. Thin films of nanowires powder were deposited on glass substrates by a drop-casting method. The effect of copper ion irradiation on the monolayer of nanostructured Co₃O₄-NiO-ZnO/GO nanowires was studied. Copper ion (Cu⁺⁺) of energy 8.0 MeV and doses of 2.25 × 10¹⁵, 5.0 × 10¹⁵, 7.25 × 10¹⁵ and 1.0 × 10¹⁶ ions/cm² were irradiated on the nanostructured thin films. The variations on the properties of the films were analyzed with X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Proton induced x-ray emission (PIXE), Rutherford back scattering (RBS), Two point probe, Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results indicate that low doses of copper ion irradiation enhanced the properties of the nanowires while high doses induced structural defects and disorder to the Co₃O₄-NiO-ZnO/GO nanowires crystal structure, the level of defects increases with increasing of ion dose. Therefore, ions beam irradiation with low doses provides an encouraging technique for competent enhancement of properties of nanostructured Co₃O₄-NiO-ZnO/GO nanowires.