Synthesis and Characterization of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles via a Novel Reverse-Micellar Route

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized by water-in-oil microemulsions with CTAB as the surfactant, 1-butanol as the cosurfactant, isooctane as the non-polar phase. These nanoparticles were decomposed at 450 C in air to obtain nanoparticles of zinc oxide. Transmission electron micrographic (TEM) analyses revealed the particle size of the nanoparticles to be in the range 1838nm. The average grain size is 25 nm. Variety of techniques likes Powder x-ray diffraction studies (PXRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), FTIR are used to carry out structural characterization of the nanoparticles.