Hydrothermal Deposition of ZnO Nanoparticles on 3D-Printed Polymer Scaffolds for Enhanced Photocatalysis

Abstract

In this study, ZnO nanowires were successfully synthesized on 3D-printed epoxy-based polymer scaffolds via a hydrothermal method. A ZnO seed layer was first deposited onto the 3D-printed structures fabricated by digital light processing (DLP), followed by hydrothermal growth to form nanowires. Structural and surface analyses were carried out using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). SEM revealed that flower- like ZnO nanowire clusters with rod-like morphology were uniformly distributed over the scaffold surface. XRD confirmed the formation of wurtzite-phase crystalline ZnO, and XPS verified the presence of Zn2+ and O2- chemical states consistent with ZnO formation. The photocatalytic performance of the scaffolds was evaluated through the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under artificial sunlight. The ZnO-coated samples exhibited significantly improved photocatalytic activity, achieving an apparent rate constant of about 0.28 h-1 and a maximum degradation efficiency of 81.36% after 6 hours, outperforming both the neat scaffold and the catalyst-free control. These results demonstrate the potential of ZnO- integrated 3D-printed scaffolds for practical photocatalytic applications.