Rapid synthesis of ZnO nanostructures through microwave heating process

In this paper, polycrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have been prepared by a hydrothermal synthesis through rapid microwave heating (180 s). The structure, composition and optical properties of the products were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectrum (EDS), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), x-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and Raman spectroscopy. Typically, the synthesized nanostructures were zinc-rich with diameter ranging from 20 nm to 200 nm in length. From the Raman spectroscopy and PL measurements, it was found that the as-deposited films contain vacancy defects that originated from the rapid synthesis process.