Synthesis and Characterization of a Novel Rambutan-like ZnO@SrTiO3/TiO2Microsphere

Designing gradient energy levels is an effective method to improve the photocatalytic performance of the semiconductor materials. In this work, we propose a core-shell structured material with micro-sized spherical SrTiO3/TiO2(abbreviated as SrT) as the core material, and the rod-shaped ZnO shell attaching on the surface of SrT, which forms a hierarchical spherical composite with rambutan-like shape. During the synthesis process, ZnO seeds are coated on the surface of SrT microspheres firstly, and then they transfer to nanorods with a diameter of 60-70 nm and a length of less than 100 nm under the growth solution medium at 90 degrees C with the volume ratio of zinc nitrate to hexamethylenetetramine (abbreviated as HMT) is 1 : 1 and the concentration is 0.05 mol/L. This structure may further facilitate the separation of the photo-generated electron-hole pairs and widen the photocatalytic applications of perovskite structured SrTiO(3)or anatase structured TiO(2)with visible excitation response.