A green chemical approach to the synthesis of photoluminescent ZnO hollow spheres with enhanced photocatalytic properties

Journal Article · Wed Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2012 · Journal of Solid State Chemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssc.2011.11.024· OSTI ID:21612884

Patrinoiu, Greta; Tudose, Madalina; Calderon-Moreno, Jose Maria ^[1]; Birjega, Ruxandra ^[2]; Budrugeac, Petru ^[3]; Ene, Ramona ^[1]; Carp, Oana ^[1]

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1. 'Ilie Murgulescu' Institute of Physical Chemistry, Romanian Academy, Splaiul Independentei 202, 060021 Bucharest (Romania)
2. National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, P.O. BOX Mg-27, Magurele, Bucharest (Romania)
3. National Institute for Research and Development in Electrical Engineering, ICPE-CA, Advanced Research, Splaiul Unirii 313, 030138 Bucharest (Romania)

ZnO hollow spheres have been synthesized by a simple and environmentally friendly template assisted route. Starch-derived carbonaceous spheres were used as template, impregnated with Zn(CH{sub 3}COO){sub 2}{center_dot}2H{sub 2}O to obtain zinc-containing precursor spheres and thermally treatment at 600 Degree-Sign C, yielding hollow ZnO spherical shells. The precursor spheres and hollow shells were characterized by X-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermal analysis and room-temperature photoluminescence measurements. The hollow spherical shells with diameters of {approx}150 nm and wall thickness of {approx}20 nm, are polycrystalline, with a mean crystallite size of 22 nm, exhibiting interesting emission features, with a wide multi-peak band covering blue and green regions of the visible spectrum. The photocatalytic activities (under UV and visible light irradiations) of the ZnO spherical shells evaluated for the phenol degradation reaction in aqueous solutions are outstanding, a total phenol conversion being registered in the case of UV irradiation experiments. - Graphical abstract: The photocatalytic reaction initiated by the photoexcitation of the semiconductor (ZnO), leads to the formation of electron-hole, while part of the electron-hole pairs recombine, some holes combine with water to form {center_dot}OH radicals and some electrons convert oxygen to super oxide radical ({center_dot}O{sub 2}{sup -}). Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Green synthesis of ZnO hollow spheres. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Starch-derived carbonaceous spheres as spherical hard template. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer ZnO hollow spheres with notable visible photoluminescence properties. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer ZnO hollow spheres with photocatalytical activity in degradation/mineralization of phenol.

• OSTI ID: 21612884
• Journal Information: Journal of Solid State Chemistry, Vol. 186; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.jssc.2011.11.024; PII: S0022-4596(11)00630-X; Copyright (c) 2011 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0022-4596
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
ELECTRONS
FOURIER TRANSFORMATION
HYDROXYL RADICALS
INFRARED SPECTRA
IRRADIATION
MINERALIZATION
PHENOL
PHOTOCATALYSIS
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
POLYCRYSTALS
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION
STARCH
SYNTHESIS
VISIBLE RADIATION
VISIBLE SPECTRA
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
ZINC OXIDES
AROMATICS
CARBOHYDRATES
CATALYSIS
CHALCOGENIDES
COHERENT SCATTERING
CONFIGURATION
CRYSTALS
DIFFRACTION
DISPERSIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EMISSION
FERMIONS
HOMOGENEOUS MIXTURES
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
INTEGRAL TRANSFORMATIONS
LEPTONS
LUMINESCENCE
MATERIALS
MICROSCOPY
MIXTURES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHENOLS
PHOTON EMISSION
POLYSACCHARIDES
RADIATIONS
RADICALS
REAGENTS
SACCHARIDES
SCATTERING
SOLUTIONS
SPECTRA
TRANSFORMATIONS
ZINC COMPOUNDS