Red bayberry-like ZnTe microstructures: Controlled synthesis, growth mechanism and enhanced photocatalytic performance

Abstract Uniform Red bayberry-like ZnTe microstructures have been synthesized by a facile solvothermal method. The effects of synthetic conditions, such as the amount of NaOH, the zinc source and reaction time were investigated. The results showed that the morphology of the ZnTe microstructures can be controlled by altering the concentration of NaOH. The growth mechanism of Red bayberry-like ZnTe microstructures was as follows: At the initial stage, the decomposition of Na 2 TeO 3 generates Te nucleus. Trigonal tellurium has a highly anisotropic crystal structure consisting of helical chains of covalently bound atoms, thus resulting in Te nanowires are firstly formed in the reaction. Subsequently, the Te nanowires were reduced by CH 3 CHO generated from ethylene glycol, meanwhile the generated Te 2− ions combined with Zn 2+ ions generates ZnTe nucleus, finally forming Red bayberry-like ZnTe. When used as a catalytic of organic pollutants, the as-obtained Red bayberry-like ZnTe showed strong photocatalytic capability reached up to about 90%. The high photocatalytic activities of the Red bayberry-like ZnTe would have a potential photocatalytic application in environmental purification.