Recent advances in ZnO nanostructures and their future perspective

Abstract

This review addresses the recent developments of the processing of ZnO nanostructures (NSs) and characterizations of the developed NSs by various techniques, mainly hydrothermal technique. This article discussed various kinds of ZnO NSs such as wires, rods, flowers, dumbbells, spheres, particles and combs created by hydrothermal process on carbon fibre substrate. ZnO likely has the wealthiest group of NSs among all materials, both in structures and properties. The NSs could have novel applications in sensors, transducers, optoelectronics, and biomedical sciences. This article moreover studies the distinctive NSs of ZnO created by the different procedures and upgrades in the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of the subsequent progressive composites. ZnO NSs processed on any substrate makes a hierarchical structure and can altogether enhance the specific properties in the final nanocomposites. Article also discussed the potential of ZnO NSs for fiber reinforced nanocomposites, focusing on the most used techniques used for the creation of ZnO NSs reinforced hierarchical composites and surveys the potential for another age of cutting edge multifunctional materials. Recent concepts used for improving or synthesizing other distinctive NSs having tailored properties are also explained in the article.