Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods were grown on three kinds of substrates Si, glass and ITO-conducting glass) by the chemical solution deposition method CBD) in an aqueous solution that contained zinc nitrate hexahydrate (ZnNO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O) and methenamine (C6H12N4). The nature of the substrate was found to have effect on the crystal structure, morphologies and photoluminescence properties of the resultant ZnO nanorods. From the X-ray measurement results, it can be seen that the growth orientation of the resultant ZnO nanorods deposited on various substrates were (0 0 2), but the highest intensity of (0 0 2) diffraction peak appeared in the samples deposited on glass and ITO-conducting glass compared to that of Si substrate. SEM results showed the nanorods grown on the bare glass had the most uniform size and the highest coverage density. Photoluminescence measurements were also carried out, the result showed that the ZnO nanorods grown on three kinds of substrates had different photoluminescence behaviors, and the one grown on the Si substrate had the best performance. And the small shift in the UV emission was caused by the compressive stress from the Raman measurement results. (C) 2008 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.