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ZnO spheres and nanorods formation: their dependence on agitation in solution synthesis

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Abstract

ZnO nanostructures including nanorods, dense, and partially hollow spheres were synthesized via a solution synthesis method with temperature ranging from 65 to 95 °C. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the diameter of the spheres is in the range of 200–500 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that some of the spheres are hollow or partially hollow. Powder X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and TEM-Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) analysis showed that the spheres consist of polycrystalline nanoparticles. It was found for the first time that the agitation during the synthesis plays a critical role on morphology of the ZnO nanostructures formed in solution. The oriented attachment of nanocrystals without agitation during the synthesis could guide the nanocrystals to form an ordered nanorod structure. However, the disordered aggregation of the nanocrystals under shear force resulted in a spherical morphology. It was also found that the composition of spheres is different from that of nanorods: the spheres consist of both ZnO and Zn(OH)2, but nanorods consist of single-crystal ZnO only. Zn(OH)2 presented in the spheres could decompose to ZnO by calcination, resulting in the formation of hollow spheres.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank IPST at Georgia Tech for the financial support to the project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 500 10th Street, N.W., Atlanta, GA, 30332-0620, USA

    Zhengzhi Zhou, Xihong Zu & Yulin Deng

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 500 10th Street, N.W., Atlanta, GA, 30332-0620, USA

    Yong Ding

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  1. Zhengzhi Zhou
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  2. Yong Ding
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  3. Xihong Zu
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  4. Yulin Deng
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Correspondence to Yulin Deng.

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Zhou, Z., Ding, Y., Zu, X. et al. ZnO spheres and nanorods formation: their dependence on agitation in solution synthesis. J Nanopart Res 13, 1689–1696 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-010-9922-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-010-9922-5

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