Preparation of spherical ZnO/ZnS core/shell particles and the photocatalytic activity for methyl orange

Spherical ZnO/ZnS core/shell particles have been successfully synthesized under the hydrothermal condition, in which spherical ZnO particles prepared via the assistance of diethylene glycol as the core template, and ZnS shell directly formed via the replacement of O2- ions on the surface of ZnO particle by S2- ions. The photocatalytic activity was studied using the degradation of methyl orange (MO) as a probe reaction. Methyl orange was reduced by about 95% under UV radiation in 2 h, indicating that the ZnO/ZnS core/shell composites could be as an effective photocatalyst in the environmental protection. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.