Hydrothermal Synthesis of Zinc Carbonate Hydroxide Nanoparticles

Zinc carbonate hydroxide Zn5(CO3)2(OH)6 nanoparticles have been successfully synthesised by the hydrothermal treatment of an aqueous solution of zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH3COO)2·2H2O) and urea (NH2CONH2) at 120 °C. The as-synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). XRD and SEM revealed Zn5(CO3)2(OH)6 nanoparticles produced in 20-40 nm size range with spherical morphology. TGA showed the expected one-step decomposition of zinc carbonate hydroxide to zinc oxide (ZnO) between temperatures of 180 °C and 350 °C. The hydrothermal reaction time (2, 3 and 4 hours) studied did not show any significant effect on the particle size and morphology. However, the crystallinity of the synthesised nanoparticles seems to be enhanced at longer hydrothermal reaction time by showing larger XRD diffraction peaks.