A Facile Process for the Preparation of Three-Dimensional Hollow Zn(OH)2 Nanoflowers at Room Temperature

Ren Cai; Dan Yang; Liqing Zhang; Liping Qiu; Hao Liang; Xigao Chen; Sena Cansiz; Zuxiao Zhang; Shuo Wan; Kimberly Stewart; Qingyu Yan; Weihong Tan

doi:10.1002/chem.201600906

A Facile Process for the Preparation of Three-Dimensional Hollow Zn(OH)2 Nanoflowers at Room Temperature

Chemistry. 2016 Aug 1;22(32):11143-7. doi: 10.1002/chem.201600906. Epub 2016 Jul 4.

Authors

Ren Cai¹, Dan Yang², Liqing Zhang¹, Liping Qiu³, Hao Liang³, Xigao Chen¹, Sena Cansiz¹, Zuxiao Zhang¹, Shuo Wan¹, Kimberly Stewart¹, Qingyu Yan², Weihong Tan^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, Department of Chemistry and Department of Physiology and Functional Genomics, Shands Cancer Center, UF Genetics Institute and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611-7200, USA.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore.
³ Molecular Science and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Biology, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Collaborative Research Center of Molecular Engineering for Theranostics, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, P.R. China.
⁴ Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, Department of Chemistry and Department of Physiology and Functional Genomics, Shands Cancer Center, UF Genetics Institute and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611-7200, USA. [email protected].
⁵ Molecular Science and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Biology, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Collaborative Research Center of Molecular Engineering for Theranostics, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, P.R. China. [email protected].

Abstract

A facile strategy has been developed to synthesize double-shelled Zn(OH)2 nanoflowers (DNFs) at room temperature. The nanoflowers were generated via conversion of Cu2 O nanoparticles (NPs) using ZnCl2 and Na2 S2 O3 by a simple process. Outward diffusion of the Cu(2+) , produced by an oxidation process on the surface of NPs, and the inward diffusion of Zn(2+) by coordination and migration, eventually lead to a hollow cavity in the inner NPs with a double-shelled 3D hollow flower shapes. The thickness of the inner and outer shells is estimated to be about 20 nm, and the thickness of nanopetals is about 7 nm. The nanoflowers have large surface areas and excellent adsorption properties. As a proof of potential applications, the DNFs exhibited an excellent ability to remove organic molecules from aqueous solutions.

Keywords: adsorption; double-shelled materials; functional materials; nanoflowers; zinc.

Abstract

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