Synthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles via Simple Wet-Chemical Routes

Zinc oxide (ZnO) powders were synthesized by a simple precipitation and a hydrothermal process at the temperature range RT-100°C. In precipitation process, the powders were formed by mixing aqueous solutions of zinc nitrate with NaOH aqueous solution under controlled process conditions such as precursor concentration, reaction pH and temperature. Single phase ZnO particles can be easily synthesized in lower precursor concentration, higher reaction pH and temperature. The powders synthesized at room temperature exhibited plates, rods or pointed multipod morphologies depending on the concentration and pH. ZnO crystallites synthesized by hydrothermal process consisted mostly of well developed large or elongated crystallites of plates or rods in shape. The results reveal that the ZnO crystallite sizes and shapes would be efficiently controllable by changing the processing parameters of the preparation processes.