Assisted-hydrothermal Synthesis and Characterization of Flower-like ZnO Nanostructures

TL;DR

This study presents a low-temperature hydrothermal method to synthesize flower-like ZnO nanostructures on seeded substrates, analyzing how seed nanoparticles and organic chains influence their morphology and crystallinity.

Contribution

It introduces a novel assisted-hydrothermal synthesis technique for flower-like ZnO nanostructures and investigates the effects of seed nanoparticles and organic chains on their growth.

Findings

Seed nanoparticles influence nanostructure formation

Organic chains affect crystalline habit

Nanostructures characterized by XRD, HRTEM, SEM

Abstract

Flower-like nanostructures formed by ZnO nanorods were synthesized and deposited on seeded silicon and glass substrates by a hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) - assisted hydrothermal method at low temperature (90 oC) with methenamine ((CH3)6N4), as surfactant and catalyst. The substrates were seeded with ZnO nanoparticles. The structure and morphology of the nanostructures were studied by means of x-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Influence of the seed nanoparticle on the formation of the flower-like ZnO nanostructures is demonstrated. The influence of the organic oxygenated chains on the crystalline habit during the growth process is also observed.