Diethanolamine-assisted and morphology controllable synthesis of ZnO with enhanced photocatalytic activities

In the assistance of diethanolamine (DEA), a facile solvothermal approach has been developed to prepare ZnO with tunable morphologies (polyprisms, rods, spindles, peanuts and burger-shapes). DEA acts as not only solvent but also structure directing reagent. The as-obtained products were characterized by XRD, FESEM, FTIR, DRS and PL. The effects of volume ratio of DEA/H2O and the amount of Zn source on the morphologies and crystalline structures of ZnO were investigated. FESEM results showed that the morphology of the products could be tuned from polyprisms to peanut-shaped to burger-shaped, which was dependent on the volume ratio of DEA/H2O. The photocatalytic activities of the ZnO with different morphologies was evaluated by the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution under UV light. Among them, ZnO polyprisms exhibited enhanced photocatalytic efficiency, which might be ascribed to the synergistic effect of good crystallinity, ordered nanostructures, high quality interfaces and suitable band energy. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A facile solvothermal approach was developed with the assistance of DEA to prepare ZnO with tunable morphologies, and the photocatalytic activities of different morphologies were evaluated. The results showed that the volume ratio of DEA/H2O had a significant influence on the morphology of ZnO products, and ZnO polyprisms exhibited enhanced photocatalytic efficiency.