3. ZnO Nanostructures for Alternate Energy Generation

Extensive use of fossil fuel in industries and automobiles has severely polluted the environment, adversely affecting the ecosystem. The fossil fuel reserves are also dwindling, creating a serious concern in the area of energy generation. With rapid advances in nanotechnology, researchers are putting in their efforts to exploit unique properties of nanomaterials to come up with environmentally friendly energy solutions. The abundantly freely available solar energy is undoubtedly the least utilized form of natural energy. Efficient tapping of solar energy can resolve the energy crisis that our world is currently going through. Solar cells developed using nanomaterials, though still at the infancy stage, will be able to harness solar energy quite efficiently and most importantly, will be able to do it very cheaply. Piezoenergy resulting from physical deformation of near-elastic crystals shows promise as energy source for self-powering of low energy consuming devices. This article discusses the possibility of using nanostructures of a very promising material, zinc oxide (ZnO), for energy generation. ZnO is a wide bandgapsemiconductor (3.37 eV) and the absence of a central symmetry in its crystal endows it with piezoelectric property. This material has been successfully used for energy generation and tapping schemes like solar cells, hydrogen generators and piezogenerators, among others.