Synthesis of zinc glycerolate microstacks from a ZnO nanorod sacrificial template

Abstract

We synthesized zinc glycerolate (ZnGly) microstacks by treating ZnO with glycerol at 100°C under reflux. We observed that the morphology of the ZnO source has a pronounced effect on the appearance of the ZnGly product. In the absence of structure-directing effects the product ZnGly is obtained as a random heap of hexagonal prisms with an average diameter and thickness of ca. 2.5 μm and ca. 350 nm, respectively. However, bundles of nanorod-shaped ZnO obtained by the thermal decomposition of zinc oxalate nanorods could readily be transformed into 2-4 μm long zinc glyc-erolate microstacks in which 6-12 hexagonal prisms are aligned face-to-face. We present evidence that the ZnGly plates in the microstacks are bound together by forces strong enough to withstand mechanical deformation exercised by a contacting AFM tip. The ZnGly microstacks appear to emerge from the ZnO nanorod bundles in an approx. 1:1 ratio in the reactive template synthesis. © Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.