AbstractZinc oxide nanopowders were synthesized by the simple sol–gel method from an ethanol solution of zinc nitrate hexahydrate. Structural and surface morphological investigations were carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectrophotometry analyses. XRD pattern showed that the zinc oxide nanoparticles exhibited hexagonal wurtzite structure. A multiple-layered structure of obelisk-shaped ZnO nanoparticles was achieved after calcinations. The average particle size of ZnO was around 20 nm as estimated by direct HRTEM observation. The size of sphere-like shaped ZnO nanoparticles was measured in the range of 20–80 nm and the size of pyramid-like shaped annealed samples was achieved in the range of 40–100 nm with less agglomeration. The energy dispersive spectroscopy spectrum showed peaks of zinc and oxygen. The sharp peaks in FTIR spectrum determined the Zn–O stretching and absorbance peak of UV–Vis spectrum showed the wide bandgap energy of 3.35 eV. Manuscript profile

Nano-sized titanium dioxide TiO2 powder was successfully prepared from its precursor titanium (IV) chloride by a simple and new wet chemical method. TiCl4 were used as precursor in hydrogen peroxide, H2O2 and ethanol. This solution was then peptized using nitric acid and heated under reflux at 80°C. Their physico-chemical properties were then characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD). The TEM results showed that the size of as-synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles were in the range of 7-10 nm. The SEM images showed that the size of nanoparticles increased when the nanoparticles prepared in presence of nitric acid. The SEM images showed that the quality of annealed TiO2 nanoaprticles, increased when the nanoparticles synthesized without nitric acid. The crystal structure of the nanoparticles before and after annealing was done by XRD analysis. It was realized that the rutile phase was formed after heat treatment at 600°C. XRD pattern also showed that the size of annealed TiO2 nanoparticles increased from 20 to 50 nm when the nanoparticles prepared with nitric acid. Manuscript profile