In this paper, we have reported the development of aluminum boron co-doped ZnO (AZB) nanostructures deposited by sol-gel method using spin coating technique. The structure of AZB nanostructure films has been found to exhibit the hexagonal wurtzite structure. The shape of AZB nanostructures has changed from seed structure to tetra-pods, tetra-pods to nanorods and finally to nanofibers with increase in aluminum concentration. The structural, electrical and optical properties of AZB films are tuned with shape and size of the nanostructures. These AZB nanostructures could be applicable for various nanoregime devices such as photovoltaic cells, gas sensors and field emission devices. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.