Abstract
Traditional preparation of ZnO nanocrystal requires heating zinc acetate to a temperature over 350 °C, whereas in this work, zinc acetate was first electrospun with PVDF to form a nanofiber, followed by thermal treatment at only 140 °C to give nanocrystalline ZnO. The much lower temperature required in thermal treatment is attributed to the high reactivity of zinc acetate at nano dimension. The as-prepared ZnO-doped PVDF nanofiber mat shows excellent effect in the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B, comparable to ZnO particle thermally treated at 600 °C. Highly-oriented ZnO nanorods were obtained by further hydrothermal synthesis of the electrospun nanofiber mat, giving nanostructured ZnO of different morphologies well-aligned on the surface of organic nanofiber. Notably, the hydrothermal synthesis of the successful preparation of these nanostructured ZnO requires a processing temperature below 100 °C at atmospheric pressure, showing great potential to be scaled up for vast manufacturing.
Highlights
Traditional preparation of ZnO nanocrystal requires heating zinc acetate to a temperature over 350 °C, whereas in this work, zinc acetate was first electrospun with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) to form a nanofiber, followed by thermal treatment at only 140 °C to give nanocrystalline ZnO
In the preparation of PVDF/Zn(Ac)[2] fiber mat by electrospinning, the concentration of the spinning solution and the content of zinc acetate in the spinning solution have a significant influence on the morphology and properties of the final product
For ZnO nanorods grown on PVDF/Zn(Ac)[2] fiber mat pre-treated at 60 °C, the crystals are found to be attached to the fiber surface in a disordered manner instead of extending vertically from the fiber surface, showing that the heat treatment at 60 °C cannot convert zinc acetate into ZnO particles
Summary
Traditional preparation of ZnO nanocrystal requires heating zinc acetate to a temperature over 350 °C, whereas in this work, zinc acetate was first electrospun with PVDF to form a nanofiber, followed by thermal treatment at only 140 °C to give nanocrystalline ZnO. The PVDF/Zn(Ac)[2] nanofiber mats thermally treated at 140 °C were subjected to hydrothermal reaction to allow the growth of ZnO nanorods.
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