Fabrication and characterization of ZnO comb-like nanostructures

High quality ZnO comb-like nanostructures have been fabricated in high yields through oxidative evaporation of pure zinc powder without catalyst at 600–650 °C. SEM, FE-SEM and HRTEM observations showed that the resulting ZnO nanostructures have two main types of single crystal morphology. Investigations through HRTEM and XRD revealed that the growth of the synthesized ZnO nanostructures was controlled by a vapor–solid (VS) mechanism. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the nanocombs showed a UV emission at ∼385 nm and a broad green emission at ∼495 nm. Such novel structures are promising for applications in some special fields.