Electrochemical synyhesis of zinc (II) oxide and zinc glycerolate from zinc metal

Zinc oxide is a n-type semi conductor acts as a transparent and conductive material with 3,37eV bandwidth and 60 meV activation energy in room conditions. ZnO is a promising future material in ultraviolet emission diodes, piezoelectric materials, sensors, high-temperature heterogen catalyzers (Cu/ZnO or CuO/ZnO/Al2O3), photovoltaic cells, electro-optic switches and hydrogen storage devices.Among many different nano materials, ZnO has a special significance with its high surface area and optically transparent, non-toxic, biocompatible, chemically and photochemically stable, high electron conductive, electrochemical active structure. There are many different methods in technical literature for Zinc oxide synthesis. These methods include experimental parameters which require high energy such as high-temperature and pressure. This results an increase in the synthesis expenses.In this study, pure ZnO powder is synthesized from Zinc metal as electrochemically in one-stage using appropriate solvent and electrolyte environments. This is a simpler and cheaper compared to other synthesis methods since it does not require thermal procedure post synthesis. Furthermore, ZnO synthesis in different sizes and shapes is aimed with the simple control of experimental parameters (voltage, time, temperature etc.).Keywords: Electrochemical synthesis, voltammetry, voltage-controlled coulometric method, Zinc oxide, Zinc glicerolate complex.