Fabrication and characterization of flower-like ZnO by gemini surfactant-assisted hydrothermal process

Flower-like nanostructural ZnO has been fabricated through lower concentration gemini surfactant-assisted hydrothermal oxidization of zinc metal at 150 degrees C. The resultant powdered products were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). XRD and EDX results showed that the as-prepared products are hexagonal and composed of ZnO. TEM and SEM images showed that flower-like ZnO nanostructures; consisting of nanorods with a diameter of 60-120 nm were formed. The SAED pattern indicates that the nanorod is a single crystal. The possible mechanism for the gemini surfactant-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of flower-like nanostructural ZnO has been discussed.