Preparation and photocatalytic degradation properties of ZnO nanopowers with different morphologies

ZnO nanopowers with different morphologies were prepared by using Zn(NO₃)₂·6H₂O and NH₄HCO₃ as raw materials through a direct precipitation method.The effects of reaction terminal pH values and post-treatment of precipitation on the crystal phase, morphology, particle size distribution and aggregation of the obtained ZnO nanopowers were investigated in detail. The results show that the network-like and granular ZnO nanoparticles can be controllably prepared by adjusting the reaction conditions especially the terminal pH values. Moreover, the samples were utilized for the photodegradation of Rhodamine B in an aqueous suspension.The obtained network-like ZnO nanoparticles show excellent photocatalytic activity in comparison with the granular ZnO nanoparticles, and the photocatalytic activities of the network-like and granular ZnO nanoparticles are obviously better than that of the commercial photocatalyst P25.