Fabrication And Properties Of ZnO Nanostructures On Fiber Surfaces

As a new type of functional semiconductor material, ZnO has broad applications in optics, sterilization, environmental protection and other aspects. It is expected to prepare functional flexible materials by constructing ZnO nanostructures on flexible substrates and regulating their morphologies and characteristics, which is of significance in functional modification and applications of materials. In this paper, the bionic adhesion of dopamine was combined with hydrothermal synthesis technology to fabricate ZnO nanostructures on the surfaces of polyester fibers, with reaction parameters adjusted to realize the controllable regulation of morphologies and characteristics of ZnO. The main contents are as follows:1. To investigate the effect of dopamine pretreatment of fibers on the growth of ZnO nanostructures around fiber surfaces, the polyester fabric was immersed in buffered dopamine solution for pretreatment. Then zinc nitrate and hexamethylenetetramine were used as precursors to grow ZnO nanostructures on the fiber surfaces loaded with ZnO seeds. At last, the morphology, chemical components and thermo gravimetric analysis of ZnO were studied by SEM, XPS and TGA, respectively to investigate the effects of dopamine pretreatment, ZnO crystal seeds loading cycles, precursor concentration as well as additives on the morphologies and crystalline structures of ZnO nanostructures.2. Fabrication and regulation of ZnO nanostructures on polydopamine pretreated fiber surfaces were conducted. Firstly, polydopamine modified fabrics were put into the hydrothermal reactors, continuous hydrothermal growth method was adopted and the ZnO nanostructures with larger specific surface area were prepared by repeatedly replacing fresh precursor solution or changing the placement of fabrics in the solution. The relationship of precursor changing times and fabric placement with the morphologies and crystal structures of ZnO nanostructures were studied to investigate the influences of related factors on the photocatalytic performance of the as-obtained samples.3. Ag doped ZnO nanostructures were grown on polydopamine pretreated fibers with their properties studied. During the growth of ZnO nanostructures on polydopamine modified polyester fabric surfaces, silver nitrate was added into the precursor solution. The doping molar ratios of [Ag+]/[Zn2+] was regulated to investigate their effects on the morphologies, structures, element distribution and photocatalytic properties of the as-obtained ZnO nanostructures.It was found that the bionic adhesion function of polydopamine could be used to increase the adhesion fastness between ZnO seed layers and fiber surfaces; ZnO seed loading cycles, precursor concentration and additives affect the growth process of nanostructures in varying degrees; nanostructures with different morphologies and ratio of length to diameter could be obtained by adjusting the placement of substrates or numbers of precursor replacement; and Ag doped ZnO nanostructures showed a better photocatalytic performance than that without doping, the best doping amount was 0.8%.