Abstract A versatile catalyst based on halloysite and zinc oxide (HNT@ZnO) was prepared, for the first time, starting from ZnO commercial bulk form as Zn precursor source, in a one-pot procedure. This strategy gives the possibility to obtain small ZnO nanoparticles loaded on the HNT surface without the use of inorganic salts which envisage the removal of undesired anions and therefore a calcination process at high temperature. It was found that the presence of halloysite improved the UV–vis spectral absorption ability of ZnO. The hybrid was successful used as photocatalyst for the methylorange and rhodamine B degradation. In addition, after eight consecutive cycles for the methylorange photodegradation, the hybrid did not exhibit significant reduction in its photocatalytic performances confirming its stability. Based on trapping experiments and calculated energy bands we also proposed a photocatalytic mechanism. Furthermore, to evaluate the versatility of the synthetized HNT@ZnO hybrid, we used it as catalyst for biodiesel production from soybean oil, too. Also, in this case, the hybrid showed good catalytic performance and recyclability.

中文翻译：

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一锅法合成埃洛石纳米管负载的氧化锌纳米颗粒用于催化应用

摘要 采用单锅法制备了一种基于埃洛石和氧化锌的多功能催化剂（HNT@ZnO），首次以商业化的 ZnO 块状形式作为 Zn 前驱体来源。该策略提供了在不使用无机盐的情况下获得负载在 HNT 表面上的小的 ZnO 纳米粒子的可能性，无机盐设想去除不需要的阴离子，因此在高温下进行煅烧过程。发现埃洛石的存在提高了 ZnO 的紫外-可见光谱吸收能力。该杂化物成功用作降解甲基橙和罗丹明 B 的光催化剂。此外，在连续八次甲基橙光降解循环后，杂化物的光催化性能没有显着降低，证实了其稳定性。基于捕获实验和计算的能带，我们还提出了一种光催化机制。此外，为了评估合成的 HNT@ZnO 杂化物的多功能性，我们也将其用作从豆油生产生物柴油的催化剂。此外，在这种情况下，杂化物表现出良好的催化性能和可回收性。