Biotemplate Synthesis of Zinc Sulfide Spheres with High Photocatalytic Performance on Organic Dyes

Abstract

Pure ZnS microspheres were generated via a biotemplate with the assistance of dispersant (methanol). The products were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS and UV–Vis. By exploring the reaction constitutions, 150 °C and 9 h were found to be the optimal constitution for the synthesis of ZnS microspheres. A possible formation mechanism was proposed based on the experiment results. The roles of methanol and rutin in the forming of ZnS spheres were investigated. Rutin was found to be a key role as the biotemplate to control the diameter of ZnS particles, while methanol as the dispersant to prevent the agglomeration of the product. The as-synthesized pure ZnS microspheres via such a biotemplate method showed remarkable photocatalytic performance toward the degradation of methyl blue.