Synthesis of nano-sized ZnO structure in ionic liquid

ZnO nanorods were successfully synthesized by thermal decomposition of Zn (OH)₂ in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-ethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate. Their structure and morphology were characterized by means of infrared spectroscopy (IR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The TEM results indicate that the diameter of the ZnO nanorods was 10 nm, and the length was 200 nm. The XRD pattern reveals that the ZnO nanorods belong to the hexagonal crystal system. The results show that ionic liquid can not only act as a reaction medium but also modify ZnO nanorods in the reaction. In this paper the growth mechanics of ZnO nano-structure was also preliminary studied.