ZnO nanonails: Organometallic synthesis,self-assembly and enhanced hydrogen gas production |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Low Dimensional Materials Research Centre, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;2. Division of Materials, Mechanics and Structures, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia;3. School of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia;1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, PR China;2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Iowa State University, 4546 Union Dr, Ames, IA 50011, United States;1. College of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China;2. Fujian Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Fuzhou 350007, Fujian, China |
| |
| Abstract: | We report the rational synthesis and characterizations of defect-rich zinc oxide (ZnO) nanonails that were prepared by organometallic approach and their implementation as an efficient photocatalyst for hydrogen (H2) generation. The ZnO nanonails were prepared from zinc stearate in n-octadecene that serves as non-coordinating solvent without the presence of any capping agent. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies reveal that the individual triangular prismatic nanonail has an average edge length of 50–70 nm and it appears to have preferred growth orientation along 0001] crystal axis. Intriguingly, this nanonails show oriented-attachment along the flat-basal edge and self-assembled into twinned structure. Such structure is interconnected via a narrow-gap to form symmetrical twinned-like nanonails with truncated tips at both ends. In comparison to ZnO commercial nanopowder, ZnO nanonails show significant enhancement in photocatalytic H2 gas generation rate of 53.33% under UV light for 5 h. These results demonstrate ZnO nanonails to be a substantial potential photocatalyst for efficient photocatalytic applications. |
| |
| Keywords: | ZnO nanonails Organometallic Stearate Defects Photocatalytic hydrogen production |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
