Synthesis of ZnO nanorods from aqueous solution

In the present work, crystalline one-dimensional ZnO nanorods were synthesized by a PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone)-assisted hydrothermal process with zinc acetate as the precursor. The major advantage of this technique is the use of water as the solvent: cheaper and more environmentally friendly than alcohol. The as-synthesized ZnO nanorods have diameters of 50–200 nm and lengths up to 5 μm. X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED), Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to characterize the structural and the chemical features of the ZnO nanorods.