Polyol mediated synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles templated by bacterial cellulose

Zinc oxide nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized through a facile polyol method using bacterial cellulose (BC) as a template. BC membrane was used as a host matrix to introduce quantitatively Zn(2+) ions and then as nanoreactors to fabricate ZnO nanoparticles by hydrolysis of zinc acetate in a polyol medium. The influence of the concentration of zinc acetate and hydrolytic time on the morphologies and size of ZnO nanoparticles were investigated. The results indicated that the uniform spherical ZnO nanoparticles were incorporated into BC fibers. The resulting nanocomposites show good mechanical properties and high photocatalytic activity in the degradation of methyl orange.