A novel approach for the synthesis of nanocrystalline zinc oxide powders by room temperature co-precipitation method

A single step co-precipitation route has been employed for the first time in the preparation of ZnO nanoparticles using ammonium hydroxide and zinc nitrate tetrahydrate. The X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the synthesized powder has the hexagonal (wurtzite) structure. The as-prepared ZnO powder was well crystalline, without any calcination. This is a promising result compared to those mentioned in the literature, in which crystallization of ZnO nanoparticles was detected at >300 degrees C. The average crystallite size of the as-prepared ZnO nanopowder is 20-40 nm. The nanocrystalline ZnO could be sintered to similar to 95% of the theoretical density at 1300 degrees C in 4 h. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.