Department of Chemistry2024-11-0920220045-653510.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.1349322-s2.0-85130525781http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134932https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14288/12211We show here that MOF-5, a sample Zn-based MOF, can uniquely transform into distinct zinc oxide nanostructures. Inspired by the interconversion synthesis of zeolites, we converted MOF-5 into nanocrystalline ZnO. We found the conversion of MOF-5 into ZnO to be tunable and straightforward simply by controlling the treatment temperature and choosing an appropriate structure-directing agent (SDA). Refined X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed that a synthesis temperature of 180 °C (sample ZnO-180) was optimal for achieving high crystallinity. We examined ZnO-180 with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), which confirmed that the samples were made of individual crystallites grown along the c-axis, or the (001) direction, thus exposing lower energy surfaces and corroborating the XRD pattern and the molecular dynamics calculations. Further investigations revealed that the obtained ZnO at 180 °C has a superior photocatalytic activity in degrading methylene blue to other ZnO nanostructures obtained at lower temperatures.Environmental engineeringPublic healthEnvironmental and occupational healthJournal Articlehttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85130525781&doi=10.1016%2fj.chemosphere.2022.134932&partnerID=40&md5=4b6a7cdedefa9b44230e356e6424805a998999700004Q111909