Mechanistic investigation of cellulose regulating the morphology and photocatalytic activity of Al-doped ZnO

Chun Shi; Lili Zhang; Zhengjun Shi; Zhiguo Wang; Jinxia Ma

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.12.222

Mechanistic investigation of cellulose regulating the morphology and photocatalytic activity of Al-doped ZnO

Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Feb 15:228:435-444. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.12.222. Epub 2022 Dec 24.

Authors

Chun Shi¹, Lili Zhang², Zhengjun Shi³, Zhiguo Wang⁴, Jinxia Ma⁵

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab of Pulp and Paper Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China; University Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Refinery & Synthesis, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China.
² Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab of Pulp and Paper Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: zhangll@njfu.edu.cn.
³ University Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Refinery & Synthesis, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China.
⁴ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab of Pulp and Paper Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
⁵ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab of Pulp and Paper Science and Technology, College of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: jxma@njfu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36572077
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.12.222

Abstract

The morphology of metal oxide is a crucial factor for improving of catalysis properties. As a renewable and environmentally friendly biomass material, cellulose has been widely used to induce the morphology of semiconductors. The contributions of cellulose hydroxyl groups and spatial hindrance in tailoring Al doped ZnO (AZO) morphologies were investigated. The morphology of AZO could be gradually induced from flake-like to flower-like with the increase of cellulose hydroxyl content per unit volume. At the same time, the changes in spatial hindrance had no apparent effect on the morphology of AZO. So the cellulose hydroxyl groups that act to induce the in situ growth of AZO nanoparticles on cellulose substrates. The results further confirmed the strong interaction between cellulose hydroxyl groups and Zn²⁺. In addition, the photocatalytic activities of Al-doped ZnO/cellulose nanocomposites (AZOC) with different morphologies were evaluated by the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA). The high hydroxyl contents of cellulose substrates contributed to the growth of flower-like AZO with high light utilization and photocatalytic activity. This work proposed cleaner strategies to modify semiconductor morphologies for photocatalysis by regulating the content of cellulose hydroxyl contents.

Keywords: Cellulose; Hydroxyl groups; Photocatalysis; Spatial hindrance; ZnO morphologies.

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Cellulose
Nanoparticles* / chemistry
Zinc Oxide* / chemistry

Substances

Zinc Oxide
Cellulose