Mass production and reusable photocatalytic activity of ZnS microspheres

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) microspheres are prepared by hydrothermal process at 180 °C. The investigation on the morphology, structure and crystallinity of the products in the growing process are carried out by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The results show that the product with the average diameter of 2 μm is microsphere and the structure is uniform. The photocatalytic properties of ZnS microspheres are investigated via methylene blue (MB) as a model organic compound under UV light irradiation, about 90% of MB is decomposed after 140 minutes when the amount of ZnS microspheres is 2.5 g/L. The stability of ZnS microspheres is discussed at last. The results indicate that there is no observable change in the recycled performance of ZnS microspheres even after eight recycles.