A microwave assisted chemical precipitation method has been employed for the synthesis of nano zinc
oxide rods by reacting zinc nitrate and potassium hydroxide. The amount of potassium hydroxide was
adjusted for three different pHs to achieve ZnO nano rods with varying aspect ratio. The mechanism of
growth of nano rods is explained briefly. The average crystallite size of the as synthesized samples was
analyzed by means of powder XRD pattern and estimated to vary from 25.6 nm to 43.1 nm.
The existence of rods was confirmed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The samples were
also analyzed using FT-IR. The optical properties of the samples were also studied by means of UV–
visible spectra and Room Temperature Photo Luminescence studies. The band gap of the samples was
determined from the DRS spectrum. A strong near band emission peaks due to surface defects are
observed in the PL spectrum.