ZnO nanowires are very important one-dimensional nanomaterials.It has a wide range of applications in the field of nanotechnology.Such as ultra-sensitive chemical biological nanosensors, dye solar cells, light-emitting diodes, nano lasers and so on.
Basic properties of ZnO nanowires.

1. Field emission performance
The narrow and long geometry of nanowires shows that ideal field emission devices can be made.The linear growth of nanowires has aroused great interest in exploring their applications in field emission.

2. Optical properties
1） Photoluminescence.The photological properties of nanowires are very important for their applications.The photoluminescence spectra of ZnO nanowires at room temperature can be measured using a fluorescence spectrophotometer using an Xe lamp with an excitation wavelength of 325nm.
2） Light-emitting diodes.By growing n-type ZnO nanowires on p-type GaN substrates, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on (n-ZnO NWS)/(p-GaN thin film) heterojunction can be fabricated.
3） Fuel solar cells.By using arrays of nanowires with large surface areas, it has been possible to produce fuel solar cells prepared from organic or inorganic heterojunctions.

3. Gas sensitive characteristics
Because of the large specific surface area, the conductivity of nanowires is very sensitive to changes in surface chemistry.When a molecule is adsorbed on the surface of the nanowire, charge transfer occurs between the adsorbed and the adsorbed.The adsorbed molecules can significantly change the dielectric properties of the surface of the nanowires, which greatly affects the conductivity of the surface.Therefore, the gas sensitivity of nanowires has been greatly improved.ZnO nanowires have been used to make conductance sensors for ethanol and NH3, as well as gas ionization sensors, intracellular pH sensors, and electrochemical sensors.

4. Catalytic performance
One-dimensional nano-ZnO is a good photocatalyst, which can decompose organic matter, sterilize and deodorize under ultraviolet light irradiation.The study also showed that the catalytic rate of nano-sized ZnO catalyst was 10-1000 times that of ordinary ZnO particles, and compared with ordinary particles, it had larger specific surface area and wider energy band, which made it a highly active photocatalyst with great application prospect.