Poly (Ethylene Glycol) (PEG)-assisted shape-controlled synthesis of one-dimensional ZnO nanorods

One dimensional (1D) ZnO micro/nanorods were successfully synthesized through polyethylene glycol (PEG)-assisted wet chemical route. The interaction mechanism and the formation of ZnO micro/nanorods were elucidated and correlated with various analytical techniques. The PEG, tend to influence the structural growth and optical properties of ZnO. Crystalline hexagonal wurtzite phase of ZnO was confirmed by XRD patterns for all the samples. The crystallite size increased from 19 to 33 nm as an increase in PEG concentration. The morphology of 1D ZnO nanostructures was studied by SEM, which showed the formation of sporadic growth of rod-shaped elongated particles. The elemental composition of ZnO was confirmed from EDX measurement. UV-vis results revealed that the PEG concentration affected the absorption edge of ZnO, shifted toward longer wavelength, and the optical band gap energy decreased from 3.25 eV to 3.09 eV. Strong band-edge emission at 400 nm was observed in all samples, markedly shifted toward the ultraviolet region, with the increasing concentration of PEG. It was found that PEG can adjust the photoluminescence intensities; adequate PEG contributes to good crystallinity of ZnO nanorods. The results obtained through XRD and UV-vis spectroscopic analysis were interrelated with each other. The resulting 1D ZnO nanostructures are useful in dye sensitized solar cells as photo-anode. (C) 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.