ZnO nanorods and nanopolypods synthesized using microwave assisted wet chemical and thermal evaporation method

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have been grown on glass and silicon substrate by microwave assisted wet-chemical (MAWC) method and thermal evaporation using TGA. The effect of different preparative parameters on the growth of ZnO nanostructures has been studied. The synthesized nanostructures are characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, particle size analyzer, XRD, SEM, and EDX. ZnO nanostructures, i.e. nanorods (NRs) obtained using evaporation method are of 200-250 nm in diameter and nanopolypods (NPPs) with pod diameter in the range 150-200 nm and pod length in the range 700-800 nm, whereas from MAWC method, NRs produced are 100-150 nm in diameter and NPPs with pod diameter in the range 150-200 nm and 1.5-2 µm of pod length. XRD studies show that the prepared samples are nanocrystalline in nature with hexagonal wurtzite phase and highly oriented along (002) direction.