Growth of zinc oxide nanorods, tetrapods, and nanobelts without catalyst

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures with various morphologies have been synthesized without catalyst in a one-step simple redox process. The results show that ZnO nanorods, nanobelts, and tetrapods with hexagonal needled arms could be synthesized via thermal treatment of a mixture of zinc oxide and charcoal powder in a muffle furnace at 1000-1200 degrees C for 240 min. XRD analyses showed that polycrystalline ZnO phase with wurtzite crystal structure was formed. At a relatively low temperature, 1000 degrees C, the ZnO structure was found to be a bundle of denser nanorods. By increasing the reaction temperature to 1100 degrees C, tetrapod-like structures of needle-like arms with pyramidal tips were formed. With the increase of temperature up to 1200 degrees C, the morphology of ZnO nanostructures changed from nanorods and tetrapods to coalescence grains. Reaction temperature was found to be the most important experimental parameter that played an important role in controlling the mode, mechanism of growth, and formation of different ZnO morphologies.