Facile preparation of porous ZnO microflowers with large surface area

ZnO microflowers (MFs) assembled by many porous nanosheets were prepared through an initial hydrothermal reaction with an extra annealing treatment at 300 degrees C. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, and TEM techniques, as well as the N-2 adsorption-desorption test. The results indicated that the ZnO MFs possessed a size of about 6 mu m and exhibited a large surface area of 58.6 m(2)/g, an average pore size of 14.1 nm with size distribution at 15.1 nm. The hydrothermal temperature was found to play an important role in determining the shape and size of ZnO products. Such ZnO MFs with porous structure and huge surface area may have application potential in the fields of gas sensors, photo-catalysis, electrochemical energy storage, and so on. The present synthetic method is simple and cost-effective, and can be extended to the preparation of other metal oxides with controlled structures.

Automated summary

ZnO microflowers consisting of porous nanosheets were synthesized by hydrothermal reaction and subsequent annealing at 300 degrees C. Characterization through XRD, SEM, TEM, and N-2 adsorption-desorption test revealed that the ZnO microflowers had a size of about 6 mu m, a surface area of 58.6 m(2)/g, an average pore size of 14.1 nm, and a size distribution centered at 15.1 nm. The hydrothermal temperature played a crucial role in determining the shape and size of the ZnO products. These ZnO microflowers with porous structure and large surface area show potential applications in gas sensors, photo-catalysis, electrochemical energy storage, and more. The synthetic method presented here is simple, cost-effective, and can be extended to the preparation of other metal oxides with controlled structures.