Controllable synthesis of flower- and rod-like ZnO nanostructures by simply tuning the ratio of sodium hydroxide to zinc acetate.

A controlled synthesis of flower- and rod-like ZnO nanostructures in a hydrothermal phase has been realized in the absence of an additional template. The well-defined morphologies are obtained by simply tuning the ratio of sodium hydroxide to zinc acetate in a narrow range. The products are characterized by powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The growth mechanism is suggested to be that the supersaturation of the precursor Zn(OH)(4)(2-) results in various nucleation habits, which induce the ZnO nanostructures with different morphologies.