Fabrication, characterization and photocatalytic activity of cubic-like ZnMn2O4

A type of uniform ZnMn2O4 with cubic-like morphology was successfully synthesized by a facile solvothermal method. The results from X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscope and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy indicated that the as-prepared sample was cubic-like ZnMn2O4 with well crystallinity and phase purity. The average length, width and thickness of the sample are approximately 2.5 μm, 1.5 μm and 1.5 μm, respectively. The N2 gas adsorption–desorption isotherms results revealed that the cubic-like ZnMn2O4 has a higher surface area of 138 m2 g−1 and monomodal pore size distributions. The optical property of the sample was studied by UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The synthesized cubic-like ZnMn2O4 exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity for rhodamine B under visible-light irradiation.