The structural as well as optical properties of nanocrystalline ZnO films, with hexagonal shaped particles of size 30-35 ran grown on p-Si (100) substrates by sol-gel technique, are investigated. Selected-area electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction patterns of annealed films reveal the formation of wurtzite structure. The mechanism of ultraviolet (UV) and green emission from ZnO thin films, post-annealed at various temperatures, is investigated using photoluminescence spectra. The oxygen content in annealed ZnO films plays an important role to suppress the green band emission. Temperature dependent photoluminescence spectra are recorded in the temperature range 10 K to 300 K to investigate different excitonic peaks in the UV-region. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.