Zinc oxide

Zinc oxide is a wide-band-gap semiconductor having various technological applications. It is known to exhibit n-type conductivity. It has semiconducting and piezoelectric dual properties. Its structure has number of alternating planes composed of tetrahedrally coordinated O2- and Zn2+ ions, stacked alternately along the c-axis. This tetrahedral coordination in ZnO is responsible for its noncentral symmetric structure and consequently imparts piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties. Nanocombs, nanorings, nanohelixes/nanosprings, nanobelts, nanowires and nanocages of ZnO have been synthesized by a solid-vapor phase thermal sublimation technique.Zinc oxide nanoparticles can serve as potential agents to suppress anti-cancer cells and also find applications in drug delivery. They can also act like metal oxide semiconductor nanomaterials in solar cells.