This work highlights a simplistic route for synthesizing zinc oxide nanoparticles via a
direct chelating reaction achieved by adding zinc nitrate to dicarboxylic acids namely
malonic, succinic and tartaric followed by slow evaporation to form the subsequent
complexes. The resulting complexes were thermally treated at 450o
C for 2h to acquire the
ZnO nanoparticles. The Fourier Transformation Infrared (FT-IR) vibrations indicated the
bonding of zinc to the carboxylic oxygen as a clue for complex and produced zinc oxide
nanoparticles formation. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) data and William Hall method
models authenticated the nanosized dimensions (40 – 50 nm) of the acquired
nanostructures. In addition, visual evidence was provided by the scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) micrographs for the nanoparticles formation. The photoluminescence
investigation demonstrated blue and green emissions occurred at 495 and 520 nm
respectively. We believe that the preparation method adopted in this work is safe as no
toxic chemicals or solvents were used.