Ultrafast and mass production of ZnO nanotetrapods by induction-heating under air ambient

•Induction-heating is a simplified, ultrafast and reproducible method to large-scale produce ZnO nanotetrapods.•Morphology of ZnO nanotetrapods can be adjusted by modifying induction-heating power.•Possible formation mechanism is proposed to explain the formation process of ZnO nanotetrapods.

ZnO nanotetrapods have been large-scale prepared through a facile and ultrafast induction-heating method. The morphologies of ZnO nanostructures can be adjusted by modifying the induction-heating supply power. The ZnO products are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and selected area electron diffraction. The results reveal the presence of octahedral structured nucleus in the center of tetrapods with wurtzite phase branches. The possible formation mechanism for these ZnO nanostructures is proposed.