Synthesis and characterization of cauliflower-like ZnS microspheres by simple self-assembly method

• Cauliflower-like ZnS microspheres comprising nanoblocks were synthesized.
• The simple self-assembly synthesis method involves a hydrothermal reaction.
• The starting materials were Zn(CH3COO)2 and Na2S2O3·5H2O.
• Cauliflower-like ZnS microspheres are used as photocatalysts.

Cauliflower-like ZnS microspheres comprising ZnS nanoblock-like structures were fabricated by a simple one-step self-assembly method involving a hydrothermal process at 150 °C for 10 h using Zn(CH3COO)2 and Na2S2O3·5H2O starting materials in an aqueous solution. The synthesized samples were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis. The photocatalysts were evaluated using the photodecomposition of methylene blue under UV light. The aqueous solutions had a pH 7, and exhibited the presence of a suspension of cauliflower-like ZnS microspheres, about 3–5 μm in diameter constructed of ZnS nanoblocks <100 nm size. These cauliflower-like ZnS microspheres have a surface area of 22.82 m2/g, a pore volume of 0.0252 cm3/g, and a pore diameter of 3.77 nm, as determined by BET analysis. The photocatalytic degradation rate followed a pseudo-first-order equation. The kinetic constant (k1) of the cauliflower-like ZnS microspheres was 5.11×10−2 min−1.

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