Zinc oxide (ZnO) is an adaptable material that has distinctive properties, such as high-sensitivity, large specific area, non-toxicity, good compatibility and a high isoelectric point, which favours it to be considered with a few exceptions. It is the most desirable group of nanostructure as far as both structure and properties. The unique and tuneable properties of nanostructured ZnO shows excellent stability in chemically as well as thermally stable n-type semiconducting material with wide applications such as in luminescent material, supercapacitors, battery, solar cells, photocatalysis, biosensors, biomedical and biological applications in the form of bulk crystal, thin film and pellets. The nanosized materials exhibit higher dissolution rates as well as higher solubility when compared to the bulk materials. This review significantly focused on the current improvement in ZnO-based nanomaterials/composites/doped materials for the application in the field of energy storage and conversion devices and biological applications. Special deliberation has been paid on supercapacitors, Li-ion batteries, dye-sensitized solar cells, photocatalysis, biosensors, biomedical and biological applications. Finally, the benefits of ZnO-based materials for the utilizations in the field of energy and biological sciences are moreover consistently analysed.

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Synergistic enhancement in photocatalytic degradation of α-Fe2O3–g-C3N4 due to an increase in visible-light absorption efficiency and rapid photoinduced charge separation.

Hierarchical structured cobalt phosphate (Co 3 (PO 4 ) 2 ) nanoflakes were synthesized by simple co-precipitation method and employed as electrodes for supercapacitor. The purity and phase formation of the synthesized (Co 3 (PO 4 ) 2 ) nanoflakes were ascertained by XRD and XPS measurements. The surface morphology and elemental composition of the Co 3 (PO 4 ) 2 nanoflakes were observed by using FE-SEM, TEM and EDS. The electrochemical behaviour of the present material as an anode material for supercapacitor was explored by cyclic voltammetric measurements and galvanostatic charge-discharge analysis. The specific capacitance for the as-synthesized and calcined (Co 3 (PO 4 ) 2 ) nanoflakes electrodes was 132 and 210 Fg À1 at a scan rate of 10 mV s À1 . The enhanced electrochemical behaviour of the calcined Co 3 (PO 4 ) 2 nanoflakes might be due to its well crystalline nature which offers more active sites for faradaic reactions, good conductivity and rapid diffusion of the electrolyte ions. The fabricated Co 3 (PO 4 ) 2 electrode displayed an excellent cyclic stability with 95 % retention of initial specific capacitance after 800 cycles. An enhanced effect on the electrochemical properties of the Co 3 (PO 4 ) 2 nanoflakes has been proposed.