SEM, EDX & XRD of Zinc Oxide Nano-structures Synthesized by Zinc Oxidation

摘要

Zinc oxide is a unique material that exhibits semiconducting as well as piezoelectric properties. Oxidation of pure metallic zinc at low temperatures of 400-600℃ for 2 hours resulted in a variety of ZnO nanostructures on the surface of metallic Zn. These nanostructures could have applications in a wide range of areas such as optoelectronics, sensors, transducers and biomedical sciences. The structure and morphology of ZnO formed by oxidation of high purity metallic Zn at temperatures ranging from 300-1000℃ for 2 h were analyzed. Oxidation at temperatures of 700-1000℃ resulted in ZnO having a completely different needle-like morphology compared with the nanostructures that formed at lower temperatures of 400-600℃. The morphology of ZnO formed at different temperatures was studied using SEM, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. DSC/TG analysis was used to determine the temperature at which oxidation started.