Antibiotic-inspired zinc oxide with morphology-dependent photocatalytic activity

Abstract

ZnO materials with different morphologies (hexahedron, coneflowerlike, cauliflowerlike, and nanorods) have been synthesized via a bioinspired method, which is effective and facile for the controlled synthesis of ZnO. Zinc acetate and ammonia were used as growth precursors, and ampicillin was used as the morphology-directing agent. X-ray diffraction (XRD) data showed that the obtained ZnO with different morphologies displayed different crystal growth habits. Photodegradation of Orange G was used as a model reaction to test the photocatalytic activity of ZnO samples. Different morphologies exhibited different activities to Orange G degradation. The cauliflowerlike ZnO sample showed the best photocatalytic performance compared with the others. The influence of the morphology-directing agent and pH on the morphology of ZnO samples and the effect of the morphologies on the photocatalytic activity are tentatively discussed.