thereisalsoapartialunderstandingofthewhole
processunderlyingthegrowthofnanostructures.Asfarasthewet
chemistry synthesisofZnOcrystalsisconcerned,theroleofthe
most usedreducingagent,hexamethylenetetramine(HMTA),is
currentlyunderdebate.Heoetal. [15] described thatone-di-
mensional singlecrystalZnOnanorodsweresuccessfullysynthe-
sized onZnOseedlayersubstratesbywetchemicalmethod.The
effect ofHMTAconcentrationonthefunctionalpropertiesofZnO
nanostructureswasstudied.However,thepreciseeffectmechan-
ism ofHMTAconcentrationonthesynthesisofZnOnanos-
tructures hasnotbeenrevealed.Govenderetal. [16] proposed that
HMTAslowlyreleasestheOH ions byitsthermaldecomposition
toformaldehydeandammonia.Ashfoldetal. [17] reportedthat
the rateofdecompositionofHMTAat90 °C calculatedforazinc-
free solutionisthesameasthatobservedexperimentallyina
solution containingzincnitrateandHMTA,implyingthatHMTA
decomposition doesnotdependonthereactionstakingplace
during ZnOdepositionandthatHMTAisaneffectivepHbuffer.By
using attenuatedtotalreflection Fouriertransforminfraredspec-
troscopyperformedonasolutioncontainingzincnitrateand
HMTA,Sugunanetal. [18] proposed thatHMTAactsasanonpolar
chelating agentwhichpreferentiallyattachestothelateralfacets
of ZnOnanorods,inducinganisotropicgrowthalongthe c-axis.