Sononanostructuring of zinc-based materials

Abstract

We performed the sonochemical nanostructuring (sononanostructuring) of zinc particles, which produced a core–shell “hedgehog” zinc-based material by a “green” ultrasound method. The core–shell “hedgehogs” consist of a metallic zinc core covered by zinc oxide nanorods. Due to the “hedgehog” morphology, the novel zinc-based material exhibited increased surface area, high accessibility for substrate molecules and could be a promising component of sensors, catalysts, active feedback coatings, and photovoltaic systems. We demonstrate the results of the photocatalytic performance of the zinc-based core–shell “hedgehogs”.