Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Prepared by the Reaction of Zinc Metal with Ethanol

Zinc oxide nanoparticles have been prepared by a very simple reaction of zinc metal with ethanol at 200 oC. The diameters of the nanoparticles range from 50–200 nm with an average diameter of 100nm. The reaction involves the cleavage of C-O bond of the alcohol, which occurs readily on zinc metal surface. Addition of ethylenediamine to the reaction yields nanorods, the amine acting as a shape controlling agent. A plausible mechanism is proposed for the formation of these nanostructures and is expected that this synthetic technique can be extended to obtain other metal oxides.