Hydrothermal Synthesis of (001) Facet Highly Exposed ZnO Plates: A New Insight into the Effect of Citrate

In this work, two synthesis routes were applied to investigate the effect of citrates on the construction of the ZnO structure. Well-dispersed ZnO plates with (001) facet highly exposed were prepared via one-step hydrothermal route, while ZnO nanoparticles were obtained via two-step route. In one-step route, citrates were added before the formation of Zn(OH) 2 precursor, while citrates were added after the formation of Zn(OH) 2. For the first time, the interaction between citrates and the Zn(OH) 2 precursor was investigated and citrates that participated in the formation of Zn(OH) 2 were the main cause for (001) facet exposed structure construction. A growth mechanism about the formation of ZnO plates in the presence of citrates was proposed. The as-prepared ZnO plates showed enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue (MB). View Full-Tex