Solvothermal Synthesis of Zinc Oxide: A Review on Effect of Solvents and Operating Conditions on Crystal Size and Shape
Abstract
Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a compound with versatile applications. The compound can be synthesized in multiple sizes and shapes. The actual final product shape or morphology depends largely on the solvent used. The understanding of the actual interaction amongst the solvent and solute molecules is a very promising way to predict the shape of ZnO. Further, the operating conditions used during synthesis of ZnO also influence the final size of the product. This review paper specifically focuses on synthesis of zinc oxide through solvothermal synthesis with salt of zinc oxide with single solvent and with different operating conditions. The literature on effect of mixture of solvents is also reported in one of the subsections. The aim of this review is to understand the actual interaction amongst single salt and solvent without presence of any other compound in it. The presence of more than one compound in solvent or mixture of solvent increases the complexity of the problem. Therefore, there is a need to focus on this specific collection of literature to understand the basics, while future studies can be devoted to more complex studies. This review covers the effect of solvents like alcohols, alkanes, glycols, ring compounds and water on zinc salt. Also, it reports the effect of operating parameters like effect of precursor, temperature and time based on the available literature.
