Homogeneous ZnO nanoparticles by flame spray pyrolysis

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were made by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) of zinc acrylate-methanol-acetic acid solution. The effect of solution feed rate on particle specific surface area (SSA) and crystalline size was examined. The average primary particle diameter can be controlled from 10 to 20 nm by the solution feed rate. All powders were crystalline zincite. The primary particle diameter observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was in agreement with the equivalent average primary particle diameter calculated from the SSA as well as with the crystalline size calculated from the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns for all powders, indicating that the primary particles were rather uniform in diameter and single crystals. Increasing the solution feed rate increases the flame height, and therefore coalescence and/or surface growth was enhanced, resulting in larger primary particles. Compared with ZnO nanoparticles made by other processes, the FSP-made powder exhibits some of the smallest and most homogeneous primary particles. Furthermore, the FSP-made powder has comparable BET equivalent primary particle diameter with but higher crystallinity than sol-gel derived ZnO powders.