Synthesis and photocatalytic performance of ZnO with flower-like structure from zinc oxide ore

Employing zinc sulfate solution obtained from zinc oxide ore as raw material, sodium hydroxide as precipitant and PEG20000 as dispersant, ultrafine ZnO powders with different morphologies were successfully synthesized through hydrothermal method. The influences of the dosage of PEG20000 solution, molar ratio of OH-/Zn2+, reaction temperature, reaction time and Zn2+ concentration on the structures and morphologies of the ZnO powders were discussed in detail. The reaction conditions of synthesizing ZnO powders with flower-like structure were obtained as below: dosage of PEG20000 with 10% mass fraction 5 mL, molar ratio of OH- to Zn2+ 5, reaction temperature 150 degrees C, reaction time 8 h at Zn2+ concentration 1 mol L-1. The growth mechanism of ZnO particles with different morphologies was proposed. The ZnO powder with flower-like structure are composed of multiple micro-rods with hexagon morphology and has good photocatalytic degradation ability to degrade RhB. 20 mL RhB solution with 15 mg L-1 could be completely degraded over flower-like ZnO powder 300 mg within 3 h. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science & Technology.