Fabrication of hollow ZnO hexahedral nanocrystals grown on Si(100) substrate by a facile route

Using a facile two-step of wet chemical procedure to synthesize hollow hexahedral zinc oxide on a Si(100) substrate is described. The X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) were employed to investigate the structure and morphology of products, also the photocatalytic and ferromagnetic properties were examined. The results showed that the diameter of ZnO with hollow structure is 200 nm and a hole with diameter of 100 nm, which is expected to be utilized as a catalyst support material in environmental remediation. The formation mechanism of hollow hexahedral ZnO is based on a dehydration reaction of Zinc 4-coordinated complexes and a preferential defect-etching process. Further investigation on the photocatalytic activity of the products showed the degradation of tetracycline is high to 98% in 120 min, also the hollow ZnO nanocrystals were proved having ferromagnetic property.