Abstract
An environmentally benign hydrothermal route was used to synthesize ultra-long double-ended needle-like ZnO microrods. The microrods were morphologically uniform with a diameter of around 1-2νm, and a length of 40-50νm. The rods were grown directly from an aqueous alkaline solution containing Zn(OH) 4 2- ions, produced from ZnSO 4 and NaOH, without using any structure-directing reagent. The products were characterized using x-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive x-ray analysis, scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, and photoluminescence, and the results are reported. The influence of the preparation parameters on the morphology of the ZnO products is also discussed. © IOP Publishing Ltd.