0000000000452214

AUTHOR

Weize Wang

Tunable morphologies of ZnO films via the solution precursor plasma spray process for improved photocatalytic degradation performance

Abstract The Solution Precursor Plasma Spray (SPPS) process is a novel, versatile and one-step route for building photocatalytic films. Herein, the influence of the precursor solution composition on the microstructure and on the properties of ZnO films prepared via the SPPS process was studied. Nanostructured ZnO particles (i.e. nanorods (NRs) and nanowires (NWs)) were obtained by using a solution of pure Zn(OAc)2 rather than pure Zn(NO3)2. Upon adding urea to the Zn(NO3)2 solution, NRs structured ZnO films were formed as well. The addition of acetic acid into the Zn(OAc)2 solution led to a damage of the nanostructured morphologies likely due to the inhibition of the zinc-containing cluster…

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Development of photocatalytically active heterostructured MnO/ZnO and CuO/ZnO films via solution precursor plasma spray process

Abstract Heterostructured ZnO photocatalysts for the degradation of organic pollutant are mainly synthesized by conventional chemical methods, suffering from long duration, multi-steps, and post-treatment of the powder-formed catalysts after usage. In this paper, Solution Precursor Plasma Spray (SPPS) process is demonstrated to be a fast and efficient method for the one-step preparation of MnO/ZnO and CuO/ZnO heterostructured films for photocatalytic applications. The ratios between MnO or CuO and ZnO materials in the films were easily adjusted by varying the molar ratio of Mn(OAc)2 or Cu(OAc)2 relative to Zn(OAc)2 during the SPPS synthesis. To optimize the microstructure of selected CuO/Zn…

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One-step synthesis and deposition of ZnFe2O4 related composite films via SPPS route for photodegradation application

Binary spinel-type metal oxides (AB2O4) related materials, including ferrites (AFe2O4), are attractive photocatalysts thanks to their excellent visible light response for the photodegradation of organic pollutants. Currently, these materials are synthesized via conventional chemical routes suffering from long preparation duration and multistep. Moreover, the photocatalysts are obtained as nano-powders from conventional chemical routes would introduce another drawback for their recycling and reuse. From an industrial perspective, it is desirable to develop an efficient and facile synthesis process to produce photocatalysts in a non-dispersible form. Herein, we demonstrate that the solution p…

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