Synthesis and luminescent property of single-crystal ZnO nanobelts by a simple low temperature evaporation route

Large-scale ZnO nanobelts in aligned fashion have been prepared via a simply conducted low temperature evaporation route using the oxidization of metallic zinc plates at 450 +/- 10 degreesC under ambient pressure. The produced nanobelt array has been structurally characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The microscope images show that the nanobelts are about 120-micron long, ranging on average from 80 to 160 micron, with about 30 nm in thickness. In addition to XRD, high-resolution TEM images and electron-diffraction patterns show that the nanobelts are single crystalline with wurtzite structure and mostly grow along the [0001] direction. The photoluminescence spectra of the single nanobelts show that the nanobelts have a dominant near-band-edge emission at about 388 nm with a very weak defect emission band centered at about 514 nm.