Catalyst-Free, High-Speed Synthesis of ZnO Nanostructures

Growth of a multitude of zinc oxide nanostructures has been achieved without the use of catalysts at atmospheric pressure in less than 10 minutes at low power (65W(RF)) in an inductive heating apparatus. Scanning electron microscopy shows an array of nanostructures including, nanocrystals, tetrapods, telescopic tetrapods, and nanowires which do not appear to be terminated with a catalyst. X-ray diffraction analysis shows growth is c plane orientated, and energy dispersive x-ray elemental analysis shows sharp peaks for zinc and oxygen, without the presence of common catalytic growth materials such as copper or gold.