ABSTRACT
Over the last few decades, nanostructured semiconductors have been the focus of intense research for applications in biomedical imaging, biological analysis and sensing, novel therapeutics, and photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices, to name a few. In the nanoscopic size range, such materials display unique electronic, optical, thermal, magnetic, and structural properties that are distinctly different from their bulk counterparts or individual molecules. While the majority of research is focused on CdS, CdSe (II-VI), and GaAs, with InAs (III-V) semiconductors as major components in quantum dots (QDs), other materials such as carbon-based dots (CDs) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have recently attracted much attention. Zinc oxide is by no means an unknown material, since bulk material ZnO has been widely used an additive or constituent in the production of plastics, ceramics, glass, lubricants, adhesives, paints, ointments, foods, as an ultraviolet (UV) lter in sunscreens, and numerous other applications. In this chapter, we will exclusively focus on ZnO nanostructures (ZnO-NS) and their photoluminescent properties.
