One step from ZnO rod to ZnS porous tube

ZnS porous tubes comprising nanocrystals of 10 nm were fabricated as photocatalyst via using ZnO rods as template. The ZnO rods were firstly synthesized in aqueous solution and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) played a key role in manipulating the diameter. Then, Na2S solution was used to convert ZnO rods into ZnS porous tubes. According to the time-dependent experiments, the dissolving of the inner ZnO core obeys to the anisotropic habit of the ZnO crystal. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The as-obtained ZnS porous tubes exhibit a broad and strong ultraviolet absorption around 350 nm and possess good photocatalytic efficiency on degradation of Rhodamine B under ultraviolet irradiation.