Growth and comparison of different morphologic ZnO nanorod arrays by a simple aqueous solution route

A simple aqueous solution route has been successfully employed to prepare large-scale arrays of ZnO nanorods on the zinc foil without the assistance of any template, oxidant or coating of metal oxide layers. It is found that the growth of ZnO nanorod arrays with different densities, diameters and morphologies is dependent on the ammonia concentration and zinc precursor. The different morphologies of the ZnO nanostructures attained with or without adding Zn2+-contained salt in the alkaline solution are compared in the paper. The possible growth mechanism concerning the growth of the different ZnO nanocrystal morphologies is also discussed.