Effect of Time conditions on the growth of ZnO nanorods via hydrothermal method N.A. Nik Aziz 2, a , M.I.N. Isa 1,b and S. Hasiah 2,c 1 Advanced Material Research Group; 2 Renewable Energy Research Interest Group Department of Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science & Technology, University Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia a nikaznikal.umt@gmail.com, b ikmar@umt.edu.my c hasiah@umt.edu.my Keywords: Zinc Oxide, hydrothermal, X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscope. Abstract. In this study, ZnO nanorod arrays were fabricated using a hydrothermal method on ITO glass substrate. We can find that the dimension of ZnO nanorod will changes with different growth of time. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns show that the nanorods are high-quality crystals growing along [001] direction with a high consistent orientation perpendicular to the substrate and it is also revealed that nanorods have wurtzite crystal structure. The diameter of ZnO nanorods were 100– 300 nm depending on the time of growth process. The surface morphology of ZnO nanorods were analyse using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). INTRODUCTION Semiconductors with dimensions in the nanometer realm are important because their electrical, optical and chemical properties can be tuned by changing the size of particles. Nanostructured materials have received attention in a wide range of fields due to its interesting properties, which render them suitable for potential applications in microelectronic and optoelectronic devices. Compared to bulk materials, nano-crystalline materials exhibit completely different properties due to its higher surface- to-volume ratio and also due to quantum confinement effects [1]. ZnO thin films are highly attractive in the development of materials area, due to their interesting physical properties as high transparency in the visible and near-ultraviolet (uv–vis) spectral regions, as well as their wide conductivity range and conductivity changes under photoreduction/oxidation condition. The conductivity changes under specific conditions for Zno thin films depends upon several factors, such as the preparation technique, the in situ preparation parameters, the doping agent, the annealing temperature and atmosphere, and even the measurement conditions [2]. ZnO is a versatile, wide band gap semiconductor with large exciton binding energy (60 mev) and interesting piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties. Its high chemical and thermal stability and abundance make it an attractive material for a wide variety of applications, such as, UV emitters and detectors, SAW devices, gas sensors and transparent conducting electrodes [3]. The notable properties of ZnO are its direct band gap of 3.37ev at room temperature and high transparency in the 0.4–2 mm optical wavelength range. Several growth techniques, such as, spray pyrolysis, sputtering, pulsed laser deposition and hydrothermal have been extensively used for the deposition of un-doped and doped ZnO films, among which, hydrothermal has been the most widely applications [4]. Hydrothermal technique is a promising alternative synthetic method because of the low process temperature and very easy to control the particle size. The present study focuses on the hydrothermal synthesis of ZnO nanorods and the effect of reaction of the precursors and time of growth on its properties. Advanced Materials Research Vol. 895 (2014) pp 509-512 © (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.895.509 All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of TTP, www.ttp.net. (ID: 58.26.189.13-11/02/14,04:26:56)