Ultrafast formation of ZnO mesocrystals with excellent photocatalytic activities by a facile Tris-assisted antisolvent process

Abstract

Ultrafast formation of ZnO mesocrystals was achieved with a facile, green, Tris-assisted, room temperature ionic liquid based antisolvent process. A deep eutectic solvent, formed by simply mixing and heating urea and choline chloride at 70 C, served as the solvent for ZnO, whereas Tris-containing de-ionized water acted as the anti-solvent to trigger the ultrafast formation of ZnO mesocrystals at 70 C. The product mesocrystals were mesoporous and near-single-crystalline with high specific surface areas, showing excellent photocatalytic activities toward photodegradation of methylene blue, comparable to that of a commercial photocatalyst, P-25 TiO 2 , which is rarely achieved for pristine ZnO. The present approach is a general one and can be readily extended to production of mesocrystals of other functional metal oxides.

Ionic liquids and deep eutectics as a transformative platform for the synthesis of nanomaterials

“…259 A DES-based method was developed by Dong et al , where aqueous Tris ((HOCH 2 ) 3 CNH 2 ) was added as an antisolvent to precipitate ZnO nanocrystals from ChCl:urea. 260 Xiong et al synthesised hematite nanospindles, also using a DES-based antisolvent method. 261 Mn 2 O 3 nanoparticles were prepared by reduction of Mn IV by ascorbic acid in hydrated ChCl:ethylene glycol DES at 40 °C.…”

Mesocrystals for photocatalysis: a comprehensive review on synthesis engineering and functional modifications

“…[66][67][68] A number of ZnO mesocrystals have been successfully prepared, including nanosheet-assembled mesocrystals, [69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76] microspheres, 77,78 rod-like bundles, 79 and spindles. 80,81 However, ZnO mesocrystals for photocatalysis have not been studied so far. Here, the structural and morphogenetic aspects of ZnO mesocrystals are initially summarized, and their photocatalytic applications are simultaneously discussed.…”

Mesocrystals as a class of multifunctional materials

“…Over the past 4 years (2010-2013), various types of mesocrystals have been synthesized and they can be categorized according to their chemical composition into metals (e.g., Au, 7 Cu, 8 Ag, 9,10 and Pd 11 ), metal oxides (e.g., CeO 2 , [12][13][14][15][16] TiO 2 , [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] ZnO, [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] Fe 2 O 3 , [54][55][56] Fe 3 O 4 ,…”