Mannite supported hydrothermal synthesis of hollow flower-like ZnO structures for photocatalytic applications

With the introduction of mannite, hollow flower-like complex superstructures assembled by ZnO nanorods have been successfully constructed via a simple hydrothermal method. The results reveal that the mannite-directed hydrothermal process is essential for the final products. The morphologies of the ZnO products could be easily tuned by adjusting the molar ratios of mannite to zinc ion, the amount of ammonia, the reaction time and temperature. A possible formation mechanism of the hollow superstructures has been proposed and the optical properties of these ZnO structures were investigated in some detail, which showed high photocatalytic activity towards Congo Red under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation.