The samples of nano-size ZnO were pre pared by precipitation,hydrolysis,sol-gel method and characterized b y X-ray diffraction,Uv-Vis diffuse r eflection spectrum,and time resolv ed luminescent spectrum.The results showed that the crystallite dimensions of a ll ZnO samples were coarsening with i ncreasing annealing temperature an d the grain sizes prepared by sol-gel meth od were obviously smaller than the others prepared by precipitation and h y-drolysis method.Under excitation o f monochromatic light of wavelength300nm,a strong and broad photolumin es-cence(PL)emissions were observed in the wavelength range of 420~780nm.As the grain size decreased,the PL peak positions moved to shorter wavelengths.And as the annealing temperature increased,the peak intensity de-creased.The photoluminescence dec ay profile of ZnO was well described b y three decay components of 46ns,330ns and 1630ns.