Synthesis of 1D, 2D, and 3D ZnO polycrystalline nanostructures using the sol-gel method

Abstract

This study employed various polyol solvents to synthesize zinc oxide polycrystalline nanostructures in the form of fibers (1D), rhombic flakes (2D), and spheres (3D). The synthetic process primarily involved the use of zinc acetate dihydrate in polyol solutions, which were used to derive precursors of zinc alkoxides. Following hydrolysis at 160C, the zinc alkoxide particles self-assembled into polycrystalline nanostructures with different morphologies. Following calcination at 500C for 1h, polycrystalline ZnO with good crystallinity was obtained. FE-SEM explored variations in surface morphology; XRD was used to analyze the crystalline structures and crystallinity of the products, which were confirmed as ZnO wurtzite structures. FE-TEM verified that the ZnO nanostructures were polycrystalline. Furthermore, we employed TGA/DSC to observe the phase transition. According to the results of property analyses, we proposed models of the relevant formation mechanisms. Finally, various ZnO structures were applied in the degradation of methylene blue to compare their photocatalytic efficiency. © 2012 Yung-Kuan Tseng et al.