Controllable preparation of porous ZnO microspheres with a niosome soft template and their photocatalytic properties

摘要

Using Span80/ polyethyleneglycol 400 (PEG400)/H2O niosome as a soft template, Zn(NO3)(2) center dot 6H(2)O as zinc source, urea as alkali source and cinnamate as directing agent, three dimensional (3D) sphere-like ZnO hierarchical nanostructures assembled with numerous nanospheres were fabricated by a simple, one-step hydrothermal route. In the process, cinnamate played a crucial role for the formation of ZnO hierarchical nanostructures, which was acted as morphology director, and demonstrate that the zinc carbonate hydroxide hydrate(ZCHH) precursor can be transformed utterly to ZnO porous microspheres after calcination. The effects of reactant and additive concentrations on the morphology and size of the nanospheres were studied and the possible formation mechanism of the ZHC nanostructures is discussed in this paper. Based on the statistical results from SEM images of the nanospheres, these hydrozincite nanospheres assemble into the sphere-like ZCHH respectively. Results indicate that ZnO retained the morphology of the ZCHH precursor following calcination at 400 degrees C for 2 h. The photocatalytic results indicated that the ZnO exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than that of the reported nanostructured ZnO, The great enhancement was mainly ascribed to their unique hierarchical nanostructures and high BET surface. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.