Preparation and characterization of zinc oxide nanoparticles and their sensor applications for electrochemical monitoring of nucleic acid hybridization

► ZnO nanoparticles around 30 nm diameter were hydrothermally synthesized. ► The particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Braun-Emmet-Teller N2 adsorption analysis and transmission electron microscopy. ► ZNPs enriched poly(vinylferrocenium) modified graphite electrodes were developed as the first time in our study for selective and sensitive recognition of nucleic acids.