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Effect of pH Values on the Morphology of Zinc Oxide Nanostructures and their Photoluminescence Spectra
Author(s) -
Wu WanYu,
Kung WenYen,
Ting JyhMing
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2010.04146.x
Subject(s) - nanorod , zinc , photoluminescence , hydrothermal circulation , morphology (biology) , zinc hydroxide , chemical engineering , nanostructure , hydrate , vaterite , inorganic chemistry , hydroxide , materials science , chemistry , nanotechnology , mineralogy , calcite , organic chemistry , optoelectronics , biology , engineering , genetics , aragonite
Morphology‐controlled zinc oxide (ZnO) structures, including micrometer‐sized rods, nanorods, urchin‐like structure, flower‐like structure, and fan‐shaped structure, have been synthesized by a hydrothermal method without the use of a surfactant or an amine salt. The morphology control has been achieved by simply varying the solution pH value. The precursor used in the hydrothermal process was zinc carbonate hydroxide hydrate (Zn 4 CO 3 (OH) 6 ·H 2 O). The solution pH value was varied through the addition of NaOH ( aq ) or HCl ( aq ) . The mechanisms for the formation of different morphologies are discussed. Despite the difference in the morphology, the resulting ZnO nanostructures all exhibit violet emission from 379.7 nm (3.27 eV) to 404.9 nm (3.06 eV), which suggests the application of the ZnO nanostructures in violet light‐emitting diodes.