However, it is a lengthy process, requiring hours or even days. Microwave-assisted solution phase growth, with the microwave energy delivered to the chemical precursors through molecular interactions with the electromagnetic field, leads to rapid reactions. ZnO nanostructures have been produced through microwave-assisted growth in minutes, including nanowires and nanosheets (NSs) [3–5], but the microwave-assisted fabrication of layered basic zinc acetate (LBZA) crystals AZD1390 in vitro has not been reported. The thermal decomposition of LBZA into ZnO is an efficient route for low-cost mass production of ZnO

nanomaterial, especially for applications requiring a high surface-to-volume ratio [6, 7]. In a previous publication, we described the growth of LBZA nanobelts and their subsequent decomposition into interconnected ZnO NPs and demonstrated their potential for gas sensing [8]. However, the growth of the LBZA NBs took 20 h, similar to previously reported LBZA

growth studies [9, 10]. Here, we mTOR inhibitor report on the fabrication of LBZA NSs using a conventional microwave, with the process taking only 2 min. The physical, chemical and optical properties of the LBZA NSs and the ZnO NSs obtained by subsequent air annealing are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL). We also demonstrate the promising potential of this novel growth process for practical applications by fabricating and testing gas sensing devices and dye sensitized solar

cells (DSCs) using ZnO NPs evolved from the NSs. Methods Without any further purification (purity ≥ 99.0%), 0.1 M Zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH3COO)2.2H2O), 0.02 M zinc nitrate selleck hexahydrate (Zn (NO3)2.6H2O) and 0.02 M Hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA, (CH2)6 N4) from Sigma Aldrich Co. Ltd. (St. Louis, MO, USA) were dissolved in 60 ml deionized water. The resulting solution had a pH of 6.8. It was then placed in a commercial microwave oven at maximum power (800 W, 2,450 MHz) for 2 min. The oven capacity was 25 l and the dimensions of the cavity were 281 × 483 × 390 mm3. This resulted in the formation of a white suspension. The structure and morphology of the products were characterized using AFM (NanoWizard® II NanoScience, JPK Instruments, Berlin, Germany), field emission SEM (Hitachi S4800, Hitachi High Technologies, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan), XRD (Bruker D8 diffractometer, Billerica, MA, USA) using CuKα DNA Damage inhibitor radiation and fitted with a LynxEYE detector and photoluminescence (PL) using a He-Cd laser with a wavelength of 325 nm and a Ocean Optics USB2000+ spectrometer (Dunedin, FL, USA), blazed at 500 nm and calibrated using a standard 3,100 K lamp. The excitation power density was approximately 3 mW/mm2 for all samples, and the PL spectra were corrected for the detection response of the spectrometer.