Monodisperse ZnO Solid Spheres by an Assisted Structure Directing Agent-Hydrothermal Method

Abstract

Monodisperse ZnO solid spheres nanostructures were synthesized and deposited on Si (100) silicon substrates by the hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA)-assisted hydrothermal method at high temperature (200˚C). In this case the HMTA is used as structure directing agent (SDA) to growth of the ZnO solid spheres. The source material used was zinc nitrate hexahydrate under a chemical reaction of hydrolysis-condensation of the Zn2+ salt aqueous solution. The structure and morphology of the ZnO solid spheres were studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Furthermore, the photoluminescence (PL) of the ZnO solid spheres was measured to optical characterization of the product. The remarkable influence of the HMTA as structure directing agent and the reaction temperature to the formation of the solid spheres nanostructures is demonstrated.