Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Prepared by the Reaction of Zinc Metal with Ethanol

Zinc oxide nanoparticles have been prepared by a verysimple reaction of zinc metal with ethanol at 200 oC. The diameters ofthe nanoparticles range from 50–200 nm with an average diameter of100nm. The reaction involves the cleavage of C-O bond of thealcohol, which occurs readily on zinc metal surface. Addition ofethylenediamine to the reaction yields nanorods, the amine acting as ashape controlling agent. A plausible mechanism is proposed for theformation of these nanostructures and is expected that this synthetictechnique can be extended to obtain other metal oxides.