ZnO micro/nanocrystals at large scale were synthesized through the thermal evaporation of Al-Zn mixtures under air atmosphere. The effect of synthetic temperature and time on the morphology of the micro/nanocrystals was examined. It was found that the temperature and time affected the morphology of the ZnO crystals. At temperatures below 900 oC, no crystals were synthesized. At a temperature of 1000 oC, ZnO crystals with a rod shape were synthesized. With an increase in temperature from 1000 oC to 1100 oC, the morphology of the crystals changed from rod shape to wire and granular shapes. As the time increased from 2 h to 3 h at 1000 oC, tetrapod-shaped ZnO crystals started to form. XRD patterns showed that the ZnO crystals had a hexagonal wurtzite structure. EDX analysis revealed that the ZnO crystals had high purity. It is believed that the ZnO nanowires were grown via a vapor-solid mechanism because no catalyst particles were observed at the tips of the micro/nanocrystals in the SEM images.

The effect of oxygen pressure on the synthesis of ZnO nanowires by means of melt-oxidation of an Al-Zn mixture was investigated. The samples were prepared in oxygen ambient for 1 h at 1,000˚C under oxygen pressure ranging from 0.5 to 100 Torr. ZnO nanowires were formed at oxygen pressures lower than 10 Torr. As the oxygen pressure increased from 0.5 to 10 Torr, the width of the nanowires increased, but their length decreased. The ZnO nanowires had a needle shape, which became gradually thinner toward the tip. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the nanowires had a hexagonal wurtzite structure. However, ZnO nanowires were not observed when the oxygen pressure increased from 10 Torr to 100 Torr. In roomtemperature cathodeluminescence spectra of the ZnO nanowires, the intensity of ultra-violet emission at 380 nm increased with decreasing oxygen pressure, which indicated that the lower the oxygen pressure, the better the crystallinity of the ZnO nanowires.