Synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles elaborated by microemulsion method

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized by a reverse microemulsion system formed from sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (Aerosol OT, or AOT):glycerol:n-heptane. The zinc precursor was zinc acetate dihydrate. The formation of ZnO nanoparticles was achieved by calcination of premature zinc glycerolate microemulsion product in air at 300, 400 and 500 degrees C. The crystal structure and the morphology of the ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Thermal analysis was employed to reveal structural and chemical changes during calcination. Both surfactant concentrations - AOT - in the initial microemulsion formulation and the calcination temperature influenced the morphology and size of the ZnO nanoparticles. Low surfactant concentrations (5:5:90, AOT:glycerol:n-heptane, wt.%) resulted in formation of spherical ZnO nanoparticles. The average particle size increased from 15 +/- 1 to 24 +/- 1 nm with calcination temperature, but spherical morphology remained unchanged after all calcination treatments. The microemulsion system containing higher surfactant amount (30:5:65, AOT:glycerol:n-heptane, wt.%) resulted in rod-like ZnO nanostructures after calcination at 300 and 400 degrees C, with a diameter of 22 +/- 3 and 28 +/- 1 nm: and with a length of 66 +/- 3 and 72 +/- 1 nm, respectively. Further increase in the calcination temperature to 500 degrees C initiated rod-to-sphere shape transformation for the ZnO nanoparticles produced using this particular microemulsion formulation. For all ZnO microemulsion products, the photoluminescence measurements suggested a high defect concentration which increases with calcination temperature. (C) 2010 Elsevier By. All rights reserved.