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Review
. 2014 Apr 9;7(4):2833-2881.
doi: 10.3390/ma7042833.

Zinc Oxide-From Synthesis to Application: A Review

Agnieszka Kołodziejczak-Radzimska  1 , Teofil Jesionowski  2
Affiliations
Review

Zinc Oxide-From Synthesis to Application: A Review

Agnieszka Kołodziejczak-Radzimska et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Zinc oxide can be called a multifunctional material thanks to its unique physical and chemical properties. The first part of this paper presents the most important methods of preparation of ZnO divided into metallurgical and chemical methods. The mechanochemical process, controlled precipitation, sol-gel method, solvothermal and hydrothermal method, method using emulsion and microemulsion enviroment and other methods of obtaining zinc oxide were classified as chemical methods. In the next part of this review, the modification methods of ZnO were characterized. The modification with organic (carboxylic acid, silanes) and inroganic (metal oxides) compounds, and polymer matrices were mainly described. Finally, we present possible applications in various branches of industry: rubber, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, textile, electronic and electrotechnology, photocatalysis were introduced. This review provides useful information for specialist dealings with zinc oxide.

Keywords: application; modification; synthesis; zinc oxide.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Examples of zinc oxide structure: flower (a); rods (b); wires (c,d) (created based on [17,27,29] with permission from Elsevier Publisher and [11] AIP Publishing LLC).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Effect of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant on the structure of a ZnO crystal (created based on [45] with permission from Elsevier Publisher).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Overview showing two examples of synthesis by the sol-gel method: (a) films from a colloidal sol; (b) powder from a colloidal sol transformed into a gel (created based on [72] with permission from Elsevier Publisher).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Zinc oxide structures: (a) solids; (b) ellipsoids; (c) rods; and (d) flakes [60].
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Synthesis and morphology of crystalline ZnO synthesized in a microemulsion system: (a) without PEG 400; and with the addition of: (b) 12.5%–25% PEG 400; (c) 50% PEG 400 (created based on [61] with permission from Elsevier Publisher).
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Schematic diagram of the most popular modifying methods of ZnO.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Schematic representation of the synthesis of surface-modified ZnO ultrafine particles using an in situ modification method (created based on [41] with permission from Elsevier Publisher).
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Probable mechanism occurring during modification of ZnO using vinyltrimethoxysilane.
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
Mechanism of nano-ZnO/PS composite synthesis by in situ emulsion polymerization (created based on [109] with permission from Elsevier Publisher).
Figure 10.
Figure 10.
(a) Probable mechanism of ZnO surface modification with maleic acid; and (b) exemplary FTIR spectra of obtained products.
Figure 11.
Figure 11.
Worldwide consumption of zinc oxide.
Figure 12.
Figure 12.
Schematic representation all the application of ZnO mentioned in the text.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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