Fabrication and photocatalysis of mesoporous ZnWO4 with PAMAM as a template

Mesoporous ZnWO4 was prepared with the template of PAMAM. The as-formed samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen absorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). It is found that the size of pore is in the range of 5–22 nm and that the porosity of ZnWO4 is composed of aggregated ZnWO4 nanoparticles. The photocatalytic activities towards degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and malachite green (MG) under UV light has been investigated. The formation mechanism of mesoporous structures is proposed.