Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mssp 532 nm nanosecond pulse laser triggered synthesis of ZnO 2 nanoparticles via a fast ablation technique in liquid and their photocatalytic performance Deyuan Yang a,b , Mohammed A. Gondal b, ⁎ , Zain H. Yamani b , Umair Baig b , Xingdu Qiao c , Guixian Liu a , Qingyu Xu d , Dinghan Xiang e , Junkui Mao f,g , Kai Shen a a College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211100, China b Physics Department and Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia c Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China d Department of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China e Guangxi Key Laboratory of Information Materials, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China f College of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Aerospace Power System, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China g Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Aero-Engine, Beijing 100191, China ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Zinc peroxide Nanosecond pulse laser ablation Photocatalytic Sorption Hydrophilic wetting ABSTRACT Cubic phase zinc peroxide nanoparticles (ZnO 2 NPs) with an average diameter of ca. 9–15 nm have been synthesized via a fast nanosecond pulse laser ablation in liquid technique (PLAL), using H 2 O 2 aqueous solution as the ablation media and a 532 nm pulsed laser as the irradiation source and low-cost zinc powder as the solid target. Both the laser energy and ablation time potentially have a substantial influence on the formation of ZnO 2 NPs. Due to its relatively high oxidation level as well as its hydrophilic wetting behavior, the as-synthesized ZnO 2 NPs exhibit efficient photocatalytic degradation ability of Rhodamine B (RB) whilst remaining stable to photodegradation. The possible mechanisms of the photocatalytic behavior have been discussed in what follows. 1. Introduction Pulse laser ablation in liquid technique (PLAL) has been applied as one of suitable ways to synthesize nanostructured metal oxides and alloys using a solid target in liquid media [1–4]. This method has advantages over other existing techniques including simplicity, absence of secondary products, no need for washing after synthesis, low cost and easily adjustable experimental parameters [5]. Moreover, it involves facile formation of metastable phases by using high tempera- ture and pressure. The composition, shape and size of the samples could be regulated through varying the liquid medium and the laser parameters as well [6]. ZnO 2 is an indirect band transition semiconductor with a wide band gap of ca. 3.3–4.6 eV [7]. It has various potential applications in rubber industry [8], photocatalysis [9], production of ZnO [10] and therapeu- tic applications [11]. Many progresses have been made in the synthesis of size and morphology controlled ZnO 2 nanoparticles (ZnO 2 NPs) in order to explore their potential properties. Diverse chemical strategies for the synthesis of ZnO 2 NPs have been developed, including precipitation [9,11] and sol-gel synthesis [12] and hydrothermal route [13,14], etc. Since the groundbreaking achievement in 1972 as well as the pioneer achievements in the development of alternative photocatalysts, hetero- geneous photocatalysis has attracted great attention because of its potential applications to an effective solution dealing with environment and energy problems, by means of H 2 production via water splitting, environmental remediation and conversion of CO 2 into value-added hydrocarbon compounds and so forth [15–20]. In the current study, cubic phase of ZnO 2 NPs has been synthesized by a fast nanosecond PLAL technique in the ablation media of H 2 O 2 aqueous solution, by using 532 nm pulse laser and low-cost zinc powder as the ablation source and solid target, respectively. The synthesis of ZnO 2 NPs by the reaction between zinc powder and H 2 O 2 in solution under laser irradiation is represented by the equation (Zn+2H 2 O 2 =ZnO 2 +2H 2 O). In addition, O 2 bubbles, which function as an important intermediate oxidizer, are generated by the decomposition of H 2 O 2 when the laser beam has been focused on zinc powder. The photodegradation and sorption behavior is further evaluated by the photodegradation experiment using Rhodamine B (RB) as the model contaminant. We find that ZnO 2 NPs possessed excellent photoactivity under UV light irradiation, and a possible mechanism for this reaction has also been discussed in terms of the energy band structure, interfacial sorption and surface wetting behaviors. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2016.09.043 Received 9 May 2016; Received in revised form 14 September 2016; Accepted 30 September 2016 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: magondal@kfupm.edu.sa (M.A. Gondal), shenkai84@nuaa.edu.cn (K. Shen). Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing 57 (2017) 124–131 1369-8001/ © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. crossmark