Microstructure of nanoscale zinc oxide crystallites

Nanosized ZnO particles were prepared using a simple precipitation method. First, hydrozincite was obtained by adding Na2CO3 aqueous solutions with different concentrations to a zinc acetate precursor, previously dissolved in ethanol. We observed that the starting concentration of the precursors and the water content used for the hydrolysis influenced the size of the hydrozincite particles. The formation of the ZnO nanoparticles began after heating the hydrozyncite to 200 °C, and even when heating to 600 °C nanosized ZnO particles of 20–50 nm were obtained without agglomeration. The morphology and crystallinity of the obtained solids were characterized using XRD, SEM and TEM.