Probing hydrogen in ZnO nanorods using solid-state 1H nuclear magnetic resonance

A low-temperature reflux method was developed to synthesize large quantities of well-dispersed freestanding ZnO nanorods, which enabled the direct observation and characterization of hydrogen by solid-state H-1 magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In contrast to nano/micrometer particles of ZnO, a surprisingly sharp H-1 NMR resonance was maintained in ZnO nanorods that were heated to 500 degrees C, suggesting the existence of unusually stable hydrogen. Quantitative H-1 NMR measurements indicate that about 0.1% on a molar basis of these hydrogen species resides in the lattice of ZnO nanorods. This work has demonstrated that H-1 NMR is a powerful technique for probing hydrogen in ZnO nanorods. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.