Synthesis and characterization of ZnO nanoparticles assembled in one-dimensional order

ZnO nanoparticles assembled in one-dimensional order were synthesized by a template-free method. The synthesized ZnO powder have a hexagonal zincite structure. The ZnO aggregates with rod-like shapes are typically ∼1.2 μm in length and 100 nm in diameter with an aspect ratio as high as ∼12, which consist of many small nanocrystals with diameters of ∼15 nm. Longer wires connected by many hexahedral ZnO nanocrystals were obtained after calcination at the temperature over 500 °C. The formation of the rod-shaped ZnO powders is related to the existence of [Zn(NH3)x]2+ complex cations.