In this study, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized using a novel environmentally friendly hydroelectric cell without an electrolyte or external current source. The hydroelectric cell comprised a nanoporous Li substituted magnesium ferrite pellet in contact with two electrodes, with zinc as the anode and silver as an inert cathode. The surface unsaturated cations and oxygen vacancies in the nanoporous ferrite dissociated water molecules into hydronium and hydroxide ions when the hydroelectric cell was dipped into deionized water. Hydroxide ions migrated toward the zinc electrode to form zinc hydroxide and the hydronium ions were evolved as H2 gas at the silver electrode. The zinc hydroxide collected as anode mud was converted into ZnO nanoparticles by heating at 250°C. Structural analysis using Raman spectroscopy indicated the good crystallinity of the ZnO nanoparticles according to the presence of a high intensity E2-(high) mode. The nanoparticle size distribution was 5–20nm according to high resolution transmission electron microscopy. An indirect band gap of 2.75eV was determined based on the Tauc plot, which indicated the existence of an interstitial cation level in ZnO. Near band edge and blue emissions were detected in photoluminescence spectral studies. The blue emissions obtained from the ZnO nanoparticles could potentially have applications in blue lasers and LEDs. The ZnO nanoparticles synthesized using this method had a high dielectric constant value of 5 at a frequency of 1MHz, which could be useful for fabricating nano-oscillators. This facile, clean, and cost-effective method obtained a significant yield of 0.017g for ZnO nanoparticles without applying an external current source. Display omitted •A novel method is proposed for the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles.•This process only utilizes distilled water and Zn foil.•This process is clean, safe, and inexpensive for synthesizing ZnO nanoparticles.•This facile process obtains a significant yield of good quality ZnO nanoparticles.