Continuous micro flow synthesis of ZnO nanorods with UV emissions

In this paper, a new process was presented to synthesize ZnO nanorods with diameter less than 10 nm. By using polytetrafluoroethylene capillary tube as micro flow reactor, ZnO nanorods could be controllably synthesized by changing the flow rates of pumped stock solutions. The effects of flow rates on the structures of as-synthesized ZnO were investigated. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images demonstrated that longer and thicker ZnO nanorods could be synthesized with slow flow rate. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra with UV emissions were also observed. For ZnO nanorods synthesized with slow flow rate, its corresponding UV emission would shift to low energy.