Immobilizing of ZIF-8 derived ZnO with controllable morphologies on zeolite A for efficient photocatalysis

ZIF-8@Zeolite A (ZIF-8@Z) catalysts were successfully prepared by sonochemical synthesizing method using metal organic frameworks as precursors and zeolite A as support. Then, ZIF-8@Z catalysts were transformed into ZnO@Zeolite A (ZnO@Z) photocatalysts by calcining at different temperatures to remove the organic functional groups of ZIF-8. All samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, BET and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra respectively. SEM images show that ZIF-8 nanoparticles were tightly loaded on the surface of zeolite A. The XRD patterns exhibit that ZIF-8 was transformed into ZnO. The photocatalysis of ZnO@Z was investigated by degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) aqueous solution under UV light and ZnO@Z exhibited rapider photodegradation of RhB than porous ZnO derived from ZIF-8. The degradation of RhB reveals that ZnO@Z, calcined at 550 degrees C for 5 h, (ZnO@Z550) shows the highest photocatalytic efficiency (99.4%).