SYNTHESIS OF ZINC OXIDE NANOPARTICLES BY THE REACTION OF ZINC METAL WITH ETHANOL

A novel approach has been described for the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles by a very simple reaction of zinc metal with ethanol at 200 degrees C. The diameters of the nanoparticles range from 50-200 nm. The reaction involves the cleavage of C-O bond of the alcohol, which occurs readily on the zinc metal surface. Addition of ethylenediamine to the reaction yields nanorods, thus acting as a shape-directing agent. A plausible mechanism is proposed for the formation of these nanostructures and it is expected that this synthetic technique can be extended to obtain other metal oxides.