Hydrothermal synthesis of spindle shaped hierarchical ZnGa ₂ O ₄ architectures and their photocatalytic activity

Abstract

The formation of spindle shaped hierarchical zinc gallate (ZnGa 2 O 4) architectures was obtained through a simple hydrothermal process without the presence of any surface-active agent. The X-ray powder diffraction pattern indicated the formation of well crystallised in ZnGa 2 O 4. The field emission scanning electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy images showed that the spindle shaped hierarchical ZnGa 2 O 4 architectures were constructed by octahedral ZnGa 2 O 4. A feasible formation mechanism for the obtained spindle shaped ZnGa 2 O 4 structure was proposed. The photocatalytic performance of the obtained ZnGa 2 O 4 architectures was tested by the degradation of methylene blue under UV light irradiation. The result shows that spindle shaped ZnGa 2 O 4 architectures have good photocatalytic performance.