The synthesis of flower-like morphology of ZnO nanorods labelled as 'ZnO flowerets' via a novel approach comprising of dealloying of mechanically alloyed powder particles of Cu-Zn of mean size 2.9 +/- 0.6 mu m is reported in the present work. The mechanical alloying of the powder blend was performed in a planetary ball mill. Subsequently, the dealloying was performed in a basic solution of NaOH. The optimization of type of basic solution, pH of the solution, dose of alloy powder and time of dealloying was performed to find the best possible process parameters for dealloying. The ZnO flowerets were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission electron microscope (FE-SEM) attached with energy dispersive spectrophotometer (EDS). The aspect ratio of ZnO nanorods and the EDS atomic ratio of Zn/Cu in the ZnO flowerets were measured to be similar to 11 (length = similar to 520 nm and width = 48 nm) and similar to 1.2, respectively. The results of inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) showed the concentration of Cu and Zn ions to be 25 and 1200 ppm, respectively, in NaOH solution after experimentation for 24 h. It also indicated the predominant dissolution of Zn relative to Cu from the alloyed powder. (C) 2020 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.