Improved Morphological Attributes of Zinc Oxide Nanorods: Effect of Precursor Concentration.

This study explored the impact of different concentrations of zinc (Zn) precursor (10, 20, 30, and 40 mM) on the morphological characteristics, element composition, and crystal structure of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) synthesized on ZnO-seeded glass substrates using a hydrothermal technique. The physical characteristics of ZnO NRs were examined in detail using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. The results revealed that the grown ZnO NRs strongly depended on the precursor concentrations of the reactants. Using this cost-effective methodology, sundry morphologies of ZnO structures were realized, impacting their morphological, compositional, and structural properties. FESEM results showed that the samples grown using 30 mM concentration had a rods-like structure with vertical alignment and high density, whereas samples grown using 20 mM concentration had a rods-like structure with random alignment and low density. However, the samples synthesized using 40 mM concentration showed marginal growth of the rods. EDX analysis confirmed that O and Zn were the main elements in the synthesized samples, indicating a formation of high-purity ZnO NRs. XRD patterns of the samples shown a polycrystalline wurtzite structure with (002) direction as the prominent peak in all grown samples. In conclusion, this study can enhance the development of ZnO NRs production for various applications.