Nano-Structures & Nano-Objects 17 (2019) 7–20 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Nano-Structures & Nano-Objects journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nanoso Facile and cost-efficient development of PMMA-based nanocomposites with custom-made hydrothermally-synthesized ZnO nanofillers Sofia Botsi a,b , Christos Tsamis a , Margarita Chatzichristidi b , Georgios Papageorgiou a , Eleni Makarona a,∗ a Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, NCSR ‘‘Demokritos’’, Aghia Paraskevi, Athens 153 10, Greece b Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Zografou, Athens, 157 71, Greece highlights • Controllable hydrothermal synthesis of ZnO nanostructures. • Examination of HMTA and NaOH role in hydrothermal synthesis. • ZnO nanofillers in PMMA matrices— role of solvent. • Electrical characterization of PMMA/ZnO nanocomposite films. graphical abstract article info Article history: Received 30 July 2018 Received in revised form 5 October 2018 Accepted 17 October 2018 Keywords: ZnO nanostructures Solvothermal/hydrothermal synthesis Polymer nanocomposites PMMA Green chemistry abstract Over the past few years polymer nanocomposites have attracted considerable interest within the scientific community because they not only combine several alluring properties such as low weight, cost-efficiency and ease-of-formability, but mainly because they possess multi-faceted, multi-functional capabilities suitable for a wide range of applications, especially in the area of printed electronics. In this work, a two- step study was performed with the aim of developing ZnO/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanocom- posites. The first step of the study encompassed the development of a facile, low-cost hydrothermal methodology to synthesize customized ZnO-nanostructures of controllable morphology and the detailed examination of the role of the materials used on the final shape and size of the produced nanostructures. The second step included studies to optimize the embedding of the produced nanostructures into PMMA matrices, mostly concentrating on the role of the solvent. The produced ZnO/PMMA nanocomposites were coated onto Si-based interdigitated electrode devices to explore their electrical characteristics and assess their potential to be employed for sensing applications. © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: e.makarona@inn.demokritos.gr (E. Makarona). 1. Introduction Polymer nanocomposites, which are in essence the result of the incorporation of nanostructured materials into polymeric matrices, have attracted considerable research attention over the past few years. By definition, polymer nanocomposites consist of a https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoso.2018.10.003 2352-507X/© 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.