Photocatalytic properties of ZnO micromaterials prepared by hydrothermal method

ZnO microrods were prepared by a simple and inexpensive hydrothermal method. The structure, morphology and optical properties of the micromaterials were characterized by XRD, FE-SEM and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The FE-SEM micrographs indicated that the sizes of the microrods were 0.2–1 μm in width and 2–5 μm in length. With methyl orange as a model degradation target, photocatalytic performance of the microrods under ultraviolet radiation was evaluated. The results indicate that the photocatalytic activity of ZnO microrods was satisfactory even under low power ultraviolet irradiation.