Growth of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods and their optical properties

Abstract

We herein, report growth of zinc oxide nanorods by a simple reaction of zinc powder and de-ionized water at very low temperature of ~ 110°C without using any organics. The formation of nanorods by the reaction of metals with water is suggested to occur due to the decomposition of water. The decomposed water produces controlled supply of OH-which further reacts with metal to form ZnO and releases hydrogen. The synthesized ZnO products were characterized in terms of their structural and optical properties. It was observed that the grown nanorods possess good optical property. Compared with other methods, the present method is simple, soft, inexpensive and environmentally benign which will make it suitable for large-scale production for devices and other applications.