Synthesis of ultrawide ZnO nanosheets

A new type of semiconducting nanostructure has been synthesized. Ultrawide ZnO nanosheets were fabricated by oxygen assisted carbothermal reduction process. Our study on the growth mechanism of these novel nanostructures indicates that they are generated by a “1D branching and 2D filling” process which can be easily controlled by the supersaturation state of reactant vapors. The ZnO nanosheets in this work are single-crystalline, nanostructured in their thickness directions, but large enough to see with the human naked eye and to handle with TEM tweezers.