Synthesis and UV shielding properties of zinc oxide ultrafine particles modified with silica and trimethyl siloxane

This paper introduces a kind of ZnO ultrafine particles modified with silica and trimethyl siloxane (TMS). Thus zinc carbonate hydroxide (ZCH) as the precursor of ZnO was synthesized using chemical precipitation method, and the precursor was modified in situ with silica and TMS. The modified ZnO ultrafine particles were obtained after calcinating the modified precursors. The surface properties of the modified ZnO ultrafine particles were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effects of the modifiers on the photocatalytic activity and UV shielding ability of ZnO ultrafine particles were also investigated and discussed.