ZnO hollow nano-baskets for mineralization of cationic dye

The hollow nano-baskets(HNBs) of zinc oxide(ZnO) were synthesized by a simple low temperature solution method and used for the degradation of rhodamine 6 G(Rh6G) dye. Well-defined hollow nano-baskets morphology of ZnO was observed which displayed a band gap of similar to 3.26 eV. The photocatalytic degradation results revealed that the synthesized ZnO-HNBs exhibited a rapid degradation rate of similar to 97% of Rh6G-dye within similar to 90 min. The mineralization of Rh6G-dye was examined before and after the photocatalytic reaction by a mass spectroscopy of the dye. The rapid and high degradation of Rh6G-dye might be attributed to ZnO hollow nanostructures via improved catalyst contact with dye by the inner and external surface of ZnO. (C) 2016 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.