Zinc oxide is a wide-band-gap semiconductor having various technological applications. It is known to exhibit n-type conductivity. It has semiconducting and piezoelectric dual properties. Its structure has number of alternating planes composed of tetrahedrally coordinated O^2- and Zn²⁺ ions, stacked alternately along the c-axis. This tetrahedral coordination in ZnO is responsible for its noncentral symmetric structure and consequently imparts piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties. Nanocombs, nanorings, nanohelixes/nanosprings, nanobelts, nanowires and nanocages of ZnO have been synthesized by a solid-vapor phase thermal sublimation technique.
Zinc oxide nanoparticles can serve as potential agents to suppress anti-cancer cells and also find applications in drug delivery. They can also act like metal oxide semiconductor nanomaterials in solar cells.

用于制备NaZnSiO₃OH，一种新型手性骨架材料，其在离子交换、吸附或催化方面具有潜在的应用价值。

Zinc oxide may be employed as catalyst to investigate the mechanism of methanol synthesis. It has various semiconductor device and phosphor applications.4