Preparations of nano-particles, nano-composites and fibers of ZnO from an amide precursor: Photocatalytic decomposition of (CH3)2S2 in a continuous flow reactor

High surface area hexagonal ZnO nano-particles were obtained at room temperature from hydrolysis of the amide derivative Zn[N(SiMe3)2]2. The same procedure applied on silica or cellulose substrates led to homogeneous crack-free hybrid materials for which micro- down to nano-meter replication into ZnO cloth was achieved by calcination at 700 °C. These materials were characterized by FT-IR, UV-vis, photoluminescence, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). They demonstrated enhanced photocatalytic degradation of a tough pollutant such as CH3SSCH3 compared with commercial ZnO powder.