Morphology, photocatalytic and antibacterial activities of radial spherical ZnO nanorods controlled with a diblock copolymer

Radial spherical ZnO nanorods were synthesized directly from an aqueous zinc acetate dihydrate solution in the presence of the poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(propylene oxide) copolymer at a mole ratio of Zn2+:OH- = 1:10. The diameter of the hexagonal facet and the length of each rod decreased with an increase of the copolymer concentrations. The blue-shift in the optical band gap was caused by an increase of the compressed lattice. The efficiency of photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue in aqueous solution increased with an increase of their surface areas. However, the decrease of their sizes did not improve their antibacterial activities. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.