Abstract: Zinc oxide nanotubes were prepared by a hydrothermal method using zinc nitrate as a precursor. The synthesized nanotubes were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and their optical properties were characterized using UV -visible spectroscopy. The XRD analysis confirmed that the ZnO nanotubes have the hexagonal wurtzite structure. UV-vis absorption spectrum showed a typical spectrum of pure ZnO nanotubes. According to TEM analysis, the mean length and average outer diameter of the ZnO NTs were about 2.4 μm and 200 nm, respectively.