Nonhydrolytic Route for Synthesis of ZnO and Its Use as a Recyclable Photocatalyst

A simple, convenient and versatile synthetic approach has been demonstrated for large-scale synthesis of zinc glycerolate microcrystals having preferential growth along the (100) axis. Glycerol has been used both as a ligand and as a solvent. This glycerolate precursor has subsequently been converted into the hexagonal phase of zinc oxide (ZnO) with wurtzite structure by calcining in air. A number of techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, solid-state C-13 NMR spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements have been used to investigate the morphology, crystallinity, and structure of the products obtained before and after calcination. Furthermore, the room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) of the ZnO nanocrystals has also been investigated along with rhodamine B degradation. The latter has been used as a probe reaction to evaluate the photocatalytic performance of the ZnO nanoparticles for as many as three recycles.