Controlling particle morphology is a critical issue in nanocrystal synthesis, as the size and shape at nano scale can greatly influence material properties and different technological applications may require specific morphologies. Variety of synthesis methods had been already employed in making ZnO nanostructures. Among numerous possibilities microemulsion techniques are especially attractive as they do not require sophisticated equipment and rigorous experimental conditions, but still providing possibilities in controlling the size and morphology of the ZnO powders in a size scale approaching to nanometers. The objective of this study is to establish processing routes to obtain synthesize ZnO nanoparticles of various size and morphology by using water-in-oil (w/o) microemulsion systems. The microstructural and optical properties of ZnO products will be examined using SEM, TEM, XRD, FT-IR spectroscopy and UV-Vis analyses to relate functional material properties with size and morphology.