Synthesis of flower-like ZnO nanostructures by sonochemical route and their photocatalytic activity

In this study, the flower-like ZnO nanostructures have been fabricated using zinc chloride and potassium hydroxide as precursors by sonochemical technique. The as-prepared ZnO nanostructures were characterized by SEM, XRD, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectra and UV-vis spectroscopy. The results indicated that the synthesized zinc oxide posses a flower shape with diameters in the range of 4-6 μm. Meanwhile, every single flower is composed of needle-like crystals of 200-300 nm in diameter irradiated from the center. The morphologies of the obtained product at different sonochemical time were experimentally studied. The formation mechanism is discussed in detail. Additionally, photocatalytic activity of the prepared ZnO sample was evaluated by the degradation of methylene blue under UV irradiation.