Effect of some amines, dodecylamine (DDA) and hexadecyldimethylamine (DMHA), on the formation of ZnO nanorods synthesized by hydrothermal route

Abstract

In this paper, we try to study the effect of two different ionic and nonionic amines dodecylamine (DDA) and hexadecyldimethylamine (DMHA) considered as weak bases and surfactant on the growth of ZnO nanorods using hydrothermal synthesis technique. The self-assembly of oriented attachment (OA) of ZnO nano- and microrods has been successfully obtained by this technique at temperatures greater than 150 °C. The ZnO nano/microrods were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Raman scattering spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and photoluminescence. The XRD measurements show that ZnO prepared by DDA amine presents small grain size in comparison to ZnO obtained from DMHA amine. From SEM characterization, we show that DDA amine has a great effect on the OA of several homogenous ZnO microrods building blocks. The growth process is explained by the formation of ZnO OA in microstructures scale which is depending on ionic character of amines. Optic measurements (Raman, FTIR and photoluminescence) are presented and commented.

Keywords:

• ZnO nano/microrods
• ZnO grains size
• hydrothermal synthesis
• oriented attachment

Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Yves Monteil (Laboratory LMI, University Claude Bernard, Lyon 1 (France)) who supervised this work. Unfortunately, he left us suddenly during the writing of the paper. To this end, we gratefully acknowledge Prof. J.-J Counioux for agreeing to replace deceased Prof. Monteil. The Francophone Universities Agency (AUF) is also acknowledged for its financial support.