Facile morphology-controlled synthesis of ZnO electrocatalysts on coal-based carbon membrane for antibiotics wastewater treatment

Abstract Treatment of antibiotics wastewater by electrocatalytic functional membrane has drawn much attention in recent years. One of the key factors that affects the membrane performance is the electrochemical activity of the electrocatalyst, which is crucial related to its morphology. Herein, a series of well-defined ZnO with different morphologies ranging from nanorods (NRs), nanoflowers (NFs) and nanoplates (NPs) were synthesized directionally with the induction of morphology-dependent functional ions by a facile electrodeposition method, thereby realizing the controllable preparation of morphological different ZnO/CMs. The intrinsic relationship between the morphology of electrocatalysts and their electrochemical properties was revealed and results indicated that ZnO NRs/CM exhibited the highest removal efficiency for the treatment of Amoxicillin synthetic wastewater. It was attributed to the largest surface of facet (0001) of NRs exposure, which strengthen the electrochemical property of ZnO NRs/CM with the fastest electron transfer rate and the highest rate of hydroxyl radical generation.