Synthesis of ZnO nanostructures in organic solvents and their photoluminescence properties

Various zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures were prepared in different polar organic solution of NaOH via a facile self-assembly solvothermal growth process. ZnO nanoparticles, nanowires, nanorods and nanoneedles with different sizes were fabricated depending on the properties of polar organic solvents. The effects of polar organic solvents including methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol, 1-hexanol, acetone and isopropanol on the forms and morphologies of ZnO nanostructures were investigated, and the corresponding reaction mechanism was preliminarily proposed. The corresponding photoluminescence (PL) spectra exhibited different optical properties of the ZnO nanostructures. We deduce that surface defects of the nanostructures are the main reason for the PL properties observed in the ZnO nanostructures. It is found that the larger specific surface area, the more surface defects and the lower ultraviolet (UV) emission intensity are. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.