Yeast-Directed Hydrothermal Synthsis of ZnMoO4 Hollow Microspheres and Its Photocatalytic Degradation of Auramine O

Abstract

Using yeast cells as natural bio-templates; ZnMoO4 hollow microspheres have been successfully synthesized. The as-obtained products are characterized by SEM, XRD and FT-IR. The results showed the ZnMoO4 hollow microspheres, with the diameter ranging from 1.5μm to 2.5μm, retained the morphology of yeast templates fairly well. The as-synthesized hollow spheres are constructed from ZnMoO4 nano-particles of monoclinic phase. Furthermore, a probable mechanism for formation is proposed. Photocatalytic activity of the ZnMoO4 hollow microspheres are studied by the photocatalytic degradation of Auramine O in solution.