Large-scale manufacture of ZnO nanorods by flame spray pyrolysis

Large quantities of ZnO nanorods (>3 kg/h throughput) were produced in the gas-phase by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) of a zinc nitrate-ethanol precursor solution without employing any catalysts or dopants. The nanorods with diameters of 20-30 nm and aspect ratios as high as seven were collected as a dry powder. Several rods self-aligned by forming junctions at the basal planes, while some even assembled into tetrapods. The aspect ratio of the nanorods could be controlled by the concentration of the Zn ions in the starting precursor solution, its delivery rate, and the oxygen flow into the reactor. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that synthesis of high aspect ratio ZnO nanorods by FSP is reported. Previous lab-scale experiments always yielded rather spherical albeit slightly elongated nanoparticles unless dopants were added. Such a product powder was obtained here when the ethanol in the precursor solution was replaced by methanol at otherwise constant process conditions. This is attributed to different temperature-time histories of the particles in the flame based on which a mechanism for ZnO nanorod formation in spray flames is proposed.