Green Hydrothermal Synthesis of ZnO2 and ZnO Nanomaterials and their Light Driven-Catalytic Activity

ZnO2 and ZnO nanomaterials were synthesized via a green and facile hydrothermal approach in which the crystallinity, morphology and optical properties were tailored under different hydrothermal temperatures during the synthesis. A possible formation mechanism was also proposed. The photoactivities of the prepared samples were evaluated under visible light irradiation and the findings implied that the sample treated at 180°C displayed superior activities on phenol degradation than those of other samples. The photocatalytic enhancement of ZnO sample was attributed to its unique rod-like structure, good crystallinity and superior optical property. The ZnO nanorod with one-dimensional morphology could also be easily separated from the solution and the photoactivity did not show significant degradation even after being used for four cycles.