Synthesis and characterization of ZnO two-dimensional nanostructures: effect of hydrothermal growth time

Synthesis and characterization of ZnO two-dimensional nanostructures: effect of hydrothermal growth time

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have attracted attention mainly due to their unique properties such as direct band gap in the UV-visible region and high binding energy at room temperature for various applications including photocatalysts. On the other hand, two-dimensional structures, due to their high effective surface area, provide many active sites for absorbing molecules as well as performing catalytic reactions. Zinc oxide cannot normally form into two-dimensional structures. But by controlling the growth conditions and using surface coatings, it is possible to limit the growth of zinc oxide nanostructures along one of the planes to obtain two-dimensional structures. In this article, using a simple hydrothermal method, we will make two-dimensional zinc oxide nanostructures and investigate the effect of the hydrothermal growth time parameter on the obtained structures. Also, we use X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to characterize the fabricated nanosheets