Facile synthesis, formation mechanism and optical properties of ZnO nanostructures

Abstract

ZnO is a very promising material because of its wide range of applications in electronics, photonics, optics and as energy storage materials. Zinc oxide nanorods were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal method at lower temperature and nano spheres by solvothermal method. The formation process of ZnO nanorods and nanospheres is discussed. The X-ray diffraction pattern indicates that the nanorods and nanospheres have hexagonal wurtzite structure. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images reveal that the synthesized ZnO nanorods grow along 〈001〉 direction. The optical properties were studied by UV visible absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy.