Novel synthesis of zinc oxide nanparticles from Type IV Deep Eutectic Solvents

One of the fields where DES show remarkable added-values is the synthesis of inorganic materials, in particular nanoparticles. In this field, the inherent and highly-tunable nano homogeneities of DES structure give origin to a marked templating effect, a precious role that has led to the recent bloom of a vast number of studies exploiting these new synthesis media to prepare nanomaterials and composite structures of various kinds. In this contribution, the most recent developments in the field will be reviewed and some exciting examples of novel metal oxide nanoparticles syntheses using non-toxic type-IV Deep Eutectic Solvents will be described. The prepared materials possess nanometric dimensions and show flower-like/thin layered shapes. Use of the prepared nanoparticles as fluorescent materials for the detection of various contaminants is under development.