Research Article
K. Gopalakrishna Naik
Abstract
Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures are synthesised by solvothermal method from zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH3COO)2.2H2O) using water and methanol as solvents. The structures, morphology, and optical properties of the grown ZnO nanostructures are characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Field-emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) in the FESEM, Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, respectively. In case of ZnO nanostructures synthesised using water as solvent, the growth of hexagonal shaped nanocrystals are observed at pH value of 8 and growth of platelet shaped nanostructures are observed at pH value of 12. The ZnO nanostructures synthesised using methanol as solvent, the growth of hexagonal shaped nanorods is observed at pH value of 8 and 9. The above results indicates that the solvents and the pH value of the Zn(CH3COO)2.2H2O solution may be playing an important role in the morphology of the ZnO nanostructures in hydrothermal synthesis.