Synthesis of zinc oxide nanorods in ionic liquid via ultrasonic irradiation

Zinc oxide is a versatile material that has achievable applications in piezoelectric transducers, nanogenerators, transparent electrodes and etc. Currently, sonochemical processes have been proved to be a useful technique for generating various nanostructured materials. In this work, we have developed a method for the synthesis of ZnO nanostructures, by combining the advantages of both ionic liquid and ultrasound. A simple approach for the preparation of ZnO nanorods via ultrasonic irradiation in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BmimBF₄) is reported. The morphology and properties of ZnO nanorods have been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and photoacoustic (PA) spectroscopy. A possible mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of ZnO nanostructures.