Surfactant mediated low temperature thermal decomposition route to zinc oxide nanocrystals

Zinc oxide nanocrystals were synthesized via thermal decomposition of a new precursor zinc malonate, [ZnCH2C2O4]·2H2O in the presence of surfactant stabilizers oleylamine (C18H35NH2) and triphenylphosphine ((C6H5)3P). The nanocrystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, FT-IR and UV–visible spectroscopy. XRD pattern showed a hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO having average crystallite size of about 22 nm. The TEM image showed the nanocrystallites constituting the flower-like pattern to be of 25–55 nm sizes. The band gap luminescence was observed at 354 nm (∼3.50 eV) alongwith defect related blue emission at 450 nm (∼2.75 eV).

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► Low temperature thermal decomposition of zinc malonate resulted flower-like zinc oxide nanocrystals.
► Powder XRD showed an hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO having average crystallite size about 22 nm.
► ZnO showed band gap luminescence at 354 nm alongwith defect related blue emission at 450 nm.
► The synthesis is simple and can act as paradigm for getting various metal oxide nanomaterials.