Chemical synthesis of zinc oxide nanorods and their transformation into nanotubes

Abstract

A simple wet chemical method was successfully deployed to synthesize zinc oxide nanorods and nanotubes ofhexagonal morphology. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy confirmed the formation of ZnO with almost equal atomicpercentages of Zn and O atoms. The FESEM images confirmed the formation of ZnO nanorods and nanotubes of length1.5 to 2 μm and diameter 500 nm to 1 μm. The growth of the nanorods saturated under the combined effect of ionicassociation of Zn2+ and OH− ions, Gibbs’ energy of the reaction, reaction temperature, and the enthalpy of the system.Further stirring led to dissolution resulting in coarse edges on the top of the nanorods and finally hollow nanotubes wereformed. The synthesized ZnO nanotubes exhibited strong photoluminescence at 649 nm owing to the holes trapped atV++O states and the conduction band edge.