Preparation of ZnO nanorod by solvothermal reaction of zinc acetate in various alcohols

Solvothermal reaction of zinc acetate in various alcohols resulted in the formation of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods. The effects of reaction conditions on the product morphology as well as crystallization mechanism were investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. It was found that average diameter and length of the nanorods increased with an increase in reaction temperature or the initial concentration of zinc acetate. On the contrary, the aspect ratio of the product depended upon type of alcohol used as the reaction medium. The aspect ratio of ZnO nanorods increased from 1.7 to 5.6 when the alcohol was changed from 1-butanol to 1-decanol. An investigation of the reaction mechanism suggested that the formation of ZnO nanorods was initiated from the esterification reaction between zinc acetate precursor and alcohol to form ZnO seeds.