Zinc oxide nanostructures have been done by many scientists but amongst the soft chemistry methods, chelating agents are normally used. In this work zinc oxide nanostructures have been synthesized using a soft chemistry method without using a chelating agent. The precursor were annealed at various temperatures of 400 °C, 500 °C, 600 °C, 700 °C, 800 °C and 1200 °C for 24 h. Nanostructures are found with rod-like shapes and they are compared with larger oval morphology. X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and UV-Vis spectroscopy were used for characterization. XRD results confirm that all peaks were pure and single phase without the presence of any impurities. It was found from electron microscopy results that the morphology of the materials annealed at 400 °C possesses nanorod shape and as the calcination temperature increases, the material consists of mixed rod, spherical and oval shapes. The aspect ratio of the materials decreases when the annealing temperature increases. The absorption edges of the materials annealed at higher temperatures show a red-shift implying that narrowing of the band gaps occur in the materials. Band gap were evaluated and found to be between 3.32 to 3.19 eV.
Novel Zinc Oxide Nanostructures Discovery by Electron Microscopy