Zinc oxide formation in galvanized metallic wire by simple selective growth method Sivanantham A. a , Abinaya C. a , Vishnukanthan V. b , Jayabal P. c,f , Boobalan K. d , Mohanraj S. e , J. Mayandi a,⇑ a Department of Materials Science, School of Chemistry, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai-625 021, Tamil Nadu, India b Department of Physics/Centre for Materials Science and Nanotechnology, University of Oslo, Postboks 1048 Blindern, NO-0316, Oslo, Norway c Department of Laser Studies, School of Physics, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai-625 021, Tamil Nadu, India d Materials Division, School of Advanced Science, VIT-University, Vellore-632 014, Tamil Nadu, India e Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Amirta University, Coimbatore-641 112, Tamil Nadu, India f Department of Physical Sciences, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam-638 401, Tamil Nadu, India article info Article history: Received 2 October 2014 Received in revised form 21 January 2015 Accepted 22 January 2015 Available online 21 February 2015 Keywords: Galvanized iron wire ZnO nanostructure Direct electric heating Surface Nanorod Ambient conditions abstract ZnO nanostructures were synthesized by a simple method of oxidiz- ing metallic wire by direct electrical heating. A galvanized iron wire was used as the source of zinc. Several optical techniques were employed on the synthesized ZnO nanostructure such as photolumi- nescence, Raman and FTIR spectroscopy. The formation of ZnO nanostructures was confirmed from the spectra of different optical studies and also determined by XRD. SEM analysis shows the signa- ture of nanorod formation on the surface of the wire. The oxidation state and ferromagnetic property of these oxidized metallic wires were discussed with the help of EPR spectrum. In summation to the properties studied, a growth mechanism was suggested based on the observations and method of the oxidation procedure. Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanostructured materials have recently attracted tremendous attention due to their distinguished performance in electronics, photonics and optics [1–8] In specific, ZnO nanorods http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.spmi.2015.01.040 0749-6036/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: jeyanthinath@yahoo.co.in (J. Mayandi). Superlattices and Microstructures 82 (2015) 327–335 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Superlattices and Microstructures journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/superlattices