Biohybrid Urchin ‐Like ZnO‐Based Microspheres with Tunable Hierarchical Structures and Enhanced Photoelectrocatalytic Properties

A novel biohybrid urchin-like magnetic ZnO microsphere with tunable hierarchical structures is produced, which integrates Fe3O4 nanoparticles layer and well-oriented 3D ZnO nanorod arrays shell with excellent controllability and stability. Compared with disordered ZnO nanoparticles and nanoflowers accumulation shell, this biohybrid structural design exhibits the best photoelectrocatalysis performances for pollutant degradation. AbstractMicroorganisms have attracted much attention to act as biotemplates for fabricating micro/nanostructured functional particles. However, it is still challenging to produce tunable hierarchical particles based on microorganisms with intricate architectures and superior stability. Herein, a novel strategy is developed to fabricate biohybrid urchin-like magnetic ZnO microspheres based onChlorella (Ch.) with tunable hierarchical core –shell structures. UsingCh. cells as microspherical templates, Fe3O4 nanoparticles and ZnO nanorod (NR) arrays are deposited in sequence to form the final biohybrid heterostructure microspheres (Ch.@Fe3O4@ZnO NRs). Ordered growth and structural regulation of 3D ZnO NR arrays are achieved via a facile and controllable manner. Compared with the prepared microspheres with diverse structure configurations of ZnO shells, theCh.@Fe3O4@ZnO NRs possess excellent light absorption and photoelectrocatalysis performance toward tetracycline degradation (normalized apparent rate constant,k = 366.3 h−1 g−1), which is significant...
Source: Small - Category: Nanotechnology Authors: Tags: Research Article Source Type: research