Influence of solvents on the growth of zinc oxide nanoparticles fabricated by microwave irradiation

Abstract

A simple and rapid process has been developed for preparation of nanometer-sized ZnO powders via microwave irradiation, by which ZnO powders with an average particle size of 10-12 nm and narrow size distribution can be synthesized in a short time. We have synthesized ZnO nanoparticles by precipitation from zinc acetate (Zn(CH2COO)2.6H2O) in different solvents: distilled water, absolute ethanol (C2H5OH), and isopropanol (C3H7OH). The ZnO nanopowders structure was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Raman scattering studies confirm that the as-synthesized nanopowders are of high crystalline quality. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis reveals that the ZnO nanopowders have a perfect crystallinity. Photoluminescence have been observed. Thus, microwave irradiation can be an attractive method for industrial production of nanopowders