ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Controllable one-step synthesis of ZnO nanostructures using molybdophosphoric acid

Hamed Rashidi, Ali Ahmadpour, Fatemeh F. Bamoharram, Seyed Mojtaba Zebarjad, Majid M. Heravi, and Faranak Tayari

Department of Chemical Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, 9177948944, Mashhad, Iran

E-mail: ahmadpour@um.ac.ir

Abstract: ZnO nanostructures were synthesised in a hydrothermal reaction of zinc acetate in the presence of molybdophosphoric acid (H₃[PMo₁₂O₄₀]) as well as its vanadium-substituted acid (H₄[PMo₁₁VO₄₀]) at various times, temperatures, and concentrations. The ZnO nanostructures were characterised by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that the synthesised products are crystalline with a zincite hexagonal phase. Various ZnO nanostructures, such as nanoparticles, microrods, and nanosheets, were produced by changing the experimental conditions. The photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange was also investigated using the ZnO nanoparticles thus prepared. These particles exhibited high performance in the photocatalytic degradation of MO and almost 100 % decolourisation occurred within only 20 min.

Keywords: ZnO – nanoparticle – nanosheet – hydrothermal – molybdophosphoric acid – photodegradation

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-013-0474-x

Chemical Papers 68 (4) 516–524 (2014)