Author(s)

Mohammad Ashraf Shah, Fahad M. Al-Marzouki

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In this paper, we demonstrate a novel and direct synthesis of hexagonal-shaped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods at very low temperature of ~ 80oC simply by using metallic zinc foil and de-ionized (DI) water with few drops of ethanol. The formation of ZnO structures by the reaction of metals with DI water is suggested to occur due to the oxidation of metallic zinc in presence of water. The synthesized ZnO products were characterized in terms of their structural and optical properties. By the morphological investigations using FESEM, it was observed that the grown products are hexagonal-shaped ZnO nanorods with the diameters in the range of 50-60 nm and length with ~ 1 micrometer. The EDS and XRD pattern confirmed the composition and crystallinity of the grown nanorods and revealed that the grown products are pure ZnO with the wurtzite hexagonal phase.

ZnO, Nanorods, X-Ray Diffraction, Structural Properties

M. Shah and F. Al-Marzouki, "Zinc Oxide Nanorods Prepared in Mixed Solvents," Materials Sciences and Applications, Vol. 1 No. 2, 2010, pp. 77-80. doi: 10.4236/msa.2010.12014.