A VERSATILE APPROACH FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF ALUMINUM OXIDE NANORODS BASED ON A SIMPLE REACTION

Aluminum oxide (α -Al 2 O 3 ) nanorods have been successfully synthesized by a simple reaction of aluminum powder with water without any additives/organics at 100°C. This is the first report for the synthesis of aluminum oxide nanorods where water has been used as solvent as well as a source of oxygen. The diameters of nanorods are relatively uniform, ranging from 40–60 nm with length of several micrometers. A plausible mechanism is proposed for the formation of these nanorods and is expected that this synthetic technique can be extended to obtain other metal oxides. Photoluminescence measurements reveal a blue luminescence band with two peaks at 310 and 420 nm, which could be attributed to F + centers. The reported method is new, economical, fast and free of pollution, which will make it suitable for large scale production.