Control of the morphology and optical properties of ZnO nanostructures via hot mixing of reverse micelles.

ZnO nanostructures with controllable morphology were obtained by hot mixing reverse micelles containing Zn(NO(3))(2) or monoethanol amine aqueous solution. The ratio of water to surfactant concentration (omega(0)) was found to play a decisive role in determining the final morphology, namely, nanotetrahedrons formed at a lower omega(0) value and nanorods formed at a higher value. However, the hot mixing technique is propitious for obtaining nanostructures with uniform size. The ZnO nanotetrahedrons obtained gave a strong blue emission arising from interface state, and the ZnO nanorods emitted green light related to donor defects. Our results indicate that the hot mixing of reverse micelles is a unique way to tune the morphology and properties of nanostructures.