Issue 6, 2017, Issue in Progress

Adjusting the proportions of {0001} facets and high-index facets of ZnO hexagonal prisms and their photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) hexagonal prisms with unique nanostructures are successfully synthesized via a simple hydrothermal method with the assistance of polyethylene glycol (PEG). Further studies demonstrated that dissolved PEG played a critical role in adjusting the exposed proportion of {0001} facets and high-index facets. By increasing the amount of PEG, we successfully reduced the exposed proportion of {0001} facets and increased the exposed proportion of high-index facets. The morphology and the properties of ZnO hexagonal prisms were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller N2 gas adsorption–desorption isotherms, and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The photocatalytic activity of the ZnO hexagonal prisms was investigated by photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) aqueous solution under UV-vis light irradiation. Results showed that the ZnO hexagonal prism samples with a high percentage of exposed high-index facets exhibited superior photocatalytic activity. The idea that adjusting the proportion of different facets to enhance the photocatalytic activity of ZnO samples is a meaningful study.

Graphical abstract: Adjusting the proportions of {0001} facets and high-index facets of ZnO hexagonal prisms and their photocatalytic activity

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Oct 2016
Accepted
28 Nov 2016
First published
13 Jan 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 3515-3520

Adjusting the proportions of {0001} facets and high-index facets of ZnO hexagonal prisms and their photocatalytic activity

Y. Liu, H. Liu, Q. Zhang and T. Li, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 3515 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA24912D

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