Research done by the Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology (CENT) at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) involving the inexpensive transformation of novel materials has gained recognition in the international science community, according to a CENT report. A paper describing the research has been published in Applied Surface Science, a journal devoted to applied physics and the chemistry of surfaces and interfaces and covering topics contributing to a better understanding of applications of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and other nanostructures. The journal is a publication of Elsevier, the world's leading publisher of science and health information, and serves more than 30 million scientists, students and health and information professionals worldwide. The CENT paper, entitled “Synthesis of ZnO2 nanoparticles by laser ablation in liquid and their annealing transformation into ZnO nanoparticles,” is related to the synthesis of novel materials like nano-zinc peroxide having a grain size less than four nanometers (nm) produced using the pulsed laser ablation (PLA) technique for the first time, according to a press statement from the center. The paper was authored by Professor Mohammed Ashraf Gondal, Qasem Drmosh, Dr. Zain Yamani and Tawfik Saleh, all from CENT and the department of physics. The CENT research team is now evaluating the use of these nanomaterials in different applications such as: water treatment for the removal of toxic pollutants, increasing the efficiency of solar cells and for gas sensing.
