Large area synthesis of 1-D ZnO nanostructure arrays on Zn substrate via solvothermal process

Abstract

Large areas of one-dimensional ZnO nanostructures (nanorods and nanowires) were prepared by simple solvothermal method. The synthesis involves a template-less and surfactant free aqueous methods. In this study, Zn metal sheet was used as both Zn ion source for the growth of ZnO nano-structures and substrate for oxide film. The mixed solvent of 1-propanol with water was used as solvents for nanorods and ethylene glycol with water was for nanowires. The solvothermal treatment of a zinc metal plate with the solvents at the temperature of 125°C for 10 hours resulted in the 1-D ZnO nanostructures, which were grown on the Zn metal sheet. The synthesized ZnO was well aligned on whole area of substrate and the nanorods were 150 nm in diameter and 3 μm in lengths, respectively.