Morphology evolution mechanism of ZnO quasi-one-dimensional nanostructures

Controlled growth of ZnO quasi-one-dimensional nanostructures with different morphologies were accomplished by thermal oxidation of zinc vapor in a vapor deposition system. The products include uniform nanobelts with different growth directions, [011-0] and [21-1-0] orientated nanobelts with nano-teeth on one side, micro-scale comb-like nanobelts and faceted fibers with periodic junctions constructed by hexagonal prisms or octagonal prisms along [011-0] and [21-1-0] directions, and so on. The morphologies and the crystal structures were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) in details. The basic configurations constructed the multiple ZnO nanostructures were discovered, the formation mechanism and the morphology multiformity of ZnO crystals were analyzed. The evolution processes of these quasi-one-dimensional configurations were discussed based on the crystal growth mechanisms. It is found that the ZnO fibers with periodic junctions and the comb-like nanobelts have an identity of crystal structure with the nanobelts.