A facile and green strategy for the synthesis of 1-dimensional luminescent ZnO nanorods and their reduction behavior for aromatic nitro-compounds

This article illustrates a facile microwave assisted synthesis of 1D ZnO nanorods using lauric acid. A fatty acid acts as a complexing and capping agent in the synthesis of the ZnO nanorods. The average diameter of the ZnO nanorods was similar to 5.5-10.0 nm. The ZnO nanorods were characterized using TEM, SAED, XRD, FTIR, UV and PL techniques. The synthesized ZnO nanorods showed unusual luminescence properties. For the first time, the reduction of toxic aromatic nitro compounds, such as para-nitrophenol, para-nitroaniline and 2,4,6-trinitrophenol was carried out using the synthesized ZnO nanorods as a catalyst in the presence of NaBH4 in aqueous medium.