Fabrication and growth mechanism of hexagonal zinc oxide nanorods via solution process

• Published in: Journal of materials science 2010-06, Vol.45 (11), p.2967-2973
• Main Authors: Wahab, Rizwan, Kim, Young-Soon, Lee, Kyeongseop, Shin, Hyung-Shik
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical composition; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Crystals; Diffraction; Diffraction patterns; Distilled water; Field emission microscopy; Hexamethylenetetramine; Materials Science; Microscopy; Nanorods; Nitrates; Nucleation; Organic chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Scanning electron microscopy; Solid Mechanics; Transmission electron microscopy; X-rays; Zinc oxide; Zinc oxides
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-010-4294-x

This article presents, the fabrication of perfectly hexagonal zinc oxide nanorods performed via solution process using zinc nitrate hexahydrate (Zn(NO 3 ) 2 ·6H 2 O) and hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) at various concentrations of i.e. 1 × 10 −3 to 10 × 10 −2  M in 50 mL distilled water and refluxed at 100 °C for 1 h. We used HMT because it acts as a template for the nucleation and growth of zinc oxide nanorods, and it also works as a surfactant for the zinc oxide structures. The X-ray diffraction patterns clearly reveal that the grown product is pure zinc oxide. The diameters and lengths of the synthesized nanorods lie in the range of 200–800 nm and 2–4 μm, respectively as observed from the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The morphological observation was also confirmed by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and clearly consistent with the FESEM observations. The chemical composition was analyzed by the FTIR spectroscopy, and it shows the ZnO band at 405 cm −1 . On the basis of these observations, the growth mechanism of ZnO nanostructures was also proposed.