Synthesis of Monodispersedly Sized ZnO Nanowires from Randomly Sized Seeds.

We demonstrate the facile, rational synthesis of monodispersedly sized zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires from randomly sized seeds by hydrothermal growth. Uniformly shaped nanowire tips constructed in ammonia-dominated alkaline conditions serve as a foundation for the subsequent formation of the monodisperse nanowires. By precisely controlling the sharp tip formation and the nucleation, our method substantially narrows the distribution of ZnO nanowire diameters from σ = 13.5 nm down to σ = 1.3 nm and controls their diameter by a completely bottom-up method, even initiating from randomly sized seeds. The proposed concept of sharp tip based monodisperse nanowires growth can be applied to the growth of diverse metal oxide nanowires and thus paves the way for bottom-up grown metal oxide nanowires-integrated nanodevices with a reliable performance.

Water-Organic Cosolvent Effect on Nucleation of Solution-Synthesized ZnO Nanowires.

Here, we show the effect of water-organic (acetone, tert-butyl alcohol, and isopropanol) cosolvents on nucleation and anisotropic crystal growth of solution-synthesized ZnO nanowires. The addition of organic solution does not alter the face-selective crystal growth nature but significantly promotes the crystal growth of both length and diameter of the nanowires. Systematic investigations reveal that a variation of the relative dielectric constant in the cosolvent can rigorously explain the observed effect of the water-organic cosolvent on the ZnO nanowire growth via the degree of supersaturation for the nucleation. The difference between acetone, tert-butyl alcohol, and isopropanol on the cosolvent effect can be interpreted in terms of a local solvent-sorting effect.