Preparation and Photocatalytic Property of the Hierarchical Mesoporous ZnO Microspheres

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1077.2013.12623

Abstract

Abstract: The zinc hydroxide carbonate (ZHC) precursor was synthesized by hydrothermal method in a autoclave using zinc nitrate hexahydrate, urea and tartaric acid as the source materials. Hierarchical porous ZnO microspheres have been successfully synthesized by calcining the microspheric ZHC. The result of scanning electron microscope (SEM) shows that the as-prepared ZnO microspheres with a diameter between 2-4 μm. The microspheres are assembled by numerous porous nanosheets which have the uniform thickness about 10 nm. The hierarchical ZnO microspheres were further charactered by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM), the results clearly show that the ZnO microspheres exhibit a typical wurtzite structure and are well crystallized. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET) confirms that the ZnO microspheres are hierarchical mesoporous structures, the diameter of mesoporous on the nanosheets are in the range of 20-50 nm. The specific surface area of the ZnO microshperes is about 29.8 m2/g. The photocatalytic activity of the ZnO microspheres was evaluated by photode-gradation reaction of methylene blue (MB). The results show that the hierarchical porous ZnO microspheres exhibit high photocatalytic activity.

Key words: ZnO microsphere, mesoporous, hydrothermal method, hierarchical structure, photocatalytic

CLC Number:

TB383

LIU Wen-Kui, ZHOU Wei-Chang, ZHANG Qing-Lin, PAN An-Lian, ZHUANG Xiu-Juan, WAN Qiang. Preparation and Photocatalytic Property of the Hierarchical Mesoporous ZnO Microspheres[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2013, 28(8): 875-879.

References

[1] Mclaren A, Valdes-solis T, Li G Q, et al. Shape and size effects of ZnO nanocrystals on photocatalytic activity. Journal of the American Chemical Society., 2009, 131(35): 12540–12541.

[2] Regan B O', Schwartz D T, Zakeeruddin S M, et al. Electrodeposited nanocomposite n–p heterojunctions for solid-state dye-sensitized photovoltaics. Advanced Materials, 2000, 12(17): 1263–1267.

[3] ZHU Xin-Bo, FANG Xiao-Dong, DENG Zan-Hong, et al. Effects of hydrothermal growth conditions of ZnO nanorods arrays on flexible dye-sensitized solar cells. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2012, 27(7): 775–779.

[4] Wan Q, Li Q H, Chen Y J, et al. Fabrication and ethanol sensing characteristics of ZnO nanowire gas sensors. Applied Physics Letters, 2004, 84(18): 3654–3656.

[5] Huang M H, Mao S, Feick H, et al. Room-temperature ultraviolet nanowires nanolasers. Science, 2001, 292(5523): 1897–1899.

[6] Xi Y, Hu C G, Han X Y, et al. Hydrothermal synthesis of ZnO nanobelts and gas sensitivity property. Solid state communications, 2007, 141(9): 506–509.

[7] HU Han-Mei, HUANG Xian-Huai, DENG Chong-Hai, et al. Hydrothermal synthesis of ZnO nanowires and nanobelts on a large scale. Materials Chemistry and Physics, 2007, 106(1): 58–62.

[8] Jung S H, Oh E, Lee K H, et al. Sonochemical preparation of shape-selective ZnO nanostructures. Crystal Growth & Design, 2008, 8(1): 265–269.

[9] XIN Chun-Yu, ZHANG Ji-De, LIU Cheng-You, et al. Preparation and performance characterization of Zinc Oxide thin films by means of Sol-Gel method. Journal of Jilin University (Science Edition), 2012, 50(1): 122–125.

[10] Barreca D, Bekermann D, Comini E, et al. 1D ZnO nano-assemblies by Plasma-CVD as chemical sensors for flammable and toxic gases. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 2010, 149(1): 1–7.

[11] Hu Z S, Oskam G, Searson P C. Influence of solvent on the growth of ZnO nanoparticles. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2003, 263(2): 454–460.

[12] WEI Hui-Ying, WU You-Shi, LUN Ning, et al. Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of ZnO nanorods. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 2005, 393(1/2): 80–82.

[13] LI Zheng-Quan, XIONG Yu-Jie, XIE Yi. Selected-control of ZnO nanowires and nanorods via a PEG-asisted route. Inorganic Chemistry, 2003, 42(24): 8105–8109.

[14] ZHENG Zhi-Yuan, CHEN Tie-Xin, CAO Liang, et al. Structure and optical properties of ZnO nanowire arrays grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2012, 27(3): 301–304.

[15] Zhang X Y, Dai J Y, Ong H C, et al. Hydrothermal synthesis of oriented ZnO nanobelts and their temperature dependent photoluminescence. Chemical Physics Letters, 2004, 393(1/2/3): 17–21.

[16] WANG Hong-Qiang, LI Guang-Hai, JIA Li-Chao, et al. Controllable preferential-etching synthesis and photocatalytic activity of porous ZnO nanotubes. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2008, 112(31): 11738–11743.

[17] HU Yong, MEI Ting, GUO Jun, et al. Temperature-triggered self-assembly of ZnO: from nanocrystals to nanorods to tablets. Inorganic Chemistry, 2007, 46(26): 11031–11035.

[18] LI Jin, FAN Hui-Qing, JIA Xiao-Hua. Multilayered ZnO nanosheets with 3D porous architectures: synthesis and gas sensing application. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2010, 114(35): 14684–14691.

[19] ZHANG Hai-Jiao, WU Ruo-Fei, CHEN Zhi-Wen, et al. Self-assembly fabrication of 3D flower-like ZnO hierarchical nanostructures and their gas sensing properties. Cryst. Eng. Comm., 2012( 14): 1775–1782.

[20] FENG Ying-Jie, ZHANG Mei, GUO Min, et al. Studies on the PEG-assisted hydrothermal synthesis and growth mechanism of ZnO microrod and mesoporous microsphere arrays on the substrate. Cryst. Growth Des., 2010, 10: 1500–1507.

[21] LEI Ai-Hua, QU Bai-Hua, ZHOU Wei-Chang, et al. Facile synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic activity of hierarchical porous ZnO microspheres. Materials Letters, 2012, 66(1): 72–75.

[22] XU Ling-Ling,?LI Ze-Ming,? CAI Qing-Hai,?et al. Precursor template synthesis of three-dimensional mesoporous ZnO hierarchical structures and their photocatalytic properties. CrystEngComm, 2010, 12: 2166–2172.

[23] ZHANG Jun, WANG Shu-Rong, XU Mi-Juan, et al. Hierarchically porous ZnO architectures for gas sensor application. Cryst. Growth Des., 2009, 9(8): 3532–3537.

[24] SUN Hong-Yu,?YU Yan-Long, LUO Jun, et al. Morphology- controlled synthesis of ZnO 3D hierarchical structures and their photocatalytic performance, CrystEngComm, 2012, 14: 8626–8632.