Synthesis of large-quantity uniformly distributed ZnO hollow objects, i.e. cages and spheres have been performed on Si(1 0 0) and steel alloy substrates by the direct heating of metallic zinc powder in the presence of oxygen. Extensive structural observations revealed that the formed products are crystalline ZnO with the wurtzite hexagonal phases. The Raman-active optical phonon E-2 modes, attributed to wurtzite hexagonal phase of ZnO, were observed at 437 cm(-1) for the products grown on both the substrates. The room-temperature photoluminescence spectra showed a broad band in the visible region with a suppressed UV emission, indicating the presence of oxygen vacancies and structural defects in the as-grown structures. Additionally, post growth annealing was also carried out to further investigate the photoluminescence properties of the as-grown products. It was observed that the formation of hollow objects consists of several stages which include the formation of Zn clusters, oxidation on the sheath and sublimation/evaporation of the Zn from the interiors, resulted in the formation of hollow objects. (c) 2007 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.