Direct synthesis of ZnO nanorods from solution under electric field

In this study, the different morphologies of ZnO nanostructures were directly synthesized from solution by the titration of the solution of Zn(Ac)2·H2O into the dilute solution of NaOH at 80 °C under the electric field of 0–0.5  kV cm−1. The nanorods with the length above 2 μm and the 40 nm in diameter were obtained under the electric field of 0.5  kV cm−1, whereas the rice-liked nanoparticles with the grain size ∼40 nm were obtained without electric field. Therefore, the morphologies of ZnO can be changed by a high electric field during synthesis. The study provides a new approach to ZnO nanorods from solution near room temperature. Any surfactants and additives are not necessary and thus the unintentional impurities are avoided to simplify the crystallization processing of ZnO nanorods.