Investigation of properties and applications of ZnO polymer nanocomposites

Polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) contain nanoparticles (NPs), with at least one dimension of 10-100 angstrom. Even though polymers have many applications, NPs are dispersed on the polymer matrix to widen their scope further. This leads to incremental effect on thermal, electrical and mechanical properties. Zinc oxide (ZnO) is one of the most promising NPs and is used extensively in industries, such as rubber, paint, coating and cosmetics. ZnO NPs become the most commonly used metal oxides in the past few decades due to their excellent biocompatibility, low toxicity and affordability. This review summarizes different ZnO-based PNCs and their applications in numerous fields, such as optoelectronics, sensors, biomedical devices, and packaging, among others. Along the way, we successfully investigate the role of specific polymers and their limitations in the application context. [GRAPHICS] .