Mesoporous ZnO microcube derived from a metal-organic framework as photocatalyst for the degradation of organic dyes.

A cube-like porous ZnO architecture was synthesized by direct two-step thermolysis of a zinc-based metal-organic framework [(CH 3 ) 2 NH 2 ][Zn(HCOO) 3 ]. The obtained ZnO microcube was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherms. The mesoporous ZnO microcube was comprised by many nanoparticles, and inherited the cube shape from [(CH 3 ) 2 NH 2 ][Zn(HCOO) 3 ] precursor. With large surface area and mesoporous structure, the ZnO microcube exhibits excellent photocatalytic activities against methyl orange (MO) and rhodamine B (RhB) under UV irradiation, and the degradation rates reached 99.7% and 98.1% within 120 min, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]