Research Article
Open Access
Ethylenediamine-Controlled Morphological Evolution of Tapered Zn$_2$GeO$_4$ Bundles for Light-driven CO$_2$ Photoreduction
1
Nanjing University of Industry Technology, Nanjing 210023, China
2
National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
* Corresponding Authors:
Yiqing Wei,
[email protected]; Yong Zhou,
[email protected]
Volume 2, Issue 3
2026
Received: 23 June 2026
Revised: 21 August 2026
Accepted: 29 August 2026
Published: 03 September 2026
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CC BY 4.0 License
Article Information
Published in
Journal of Advanced Materials Research
Volume/Issue
Volume 2, Issue 3, 2026
Pages
251-261
Abstract
Morphology engineering stands as a cornerstone strategy to boost the light harvesting and charge transport properties of wide-bandgap oxide photocatalysts. Herein, a Zn$_2$GeO$_4$ photocatalyst with a highly symmetric conical bundle architecture is successfully fabricated via modulating the dosage of ethylenediamine (EDA). The introduction of a moderate EDA dosage effectively triggers the anisotropic growth of Zn$_2$GeO$_4$, thus constructing a compact and highly ordered conical bundle microstructure (denoted as 4-ZGO). This unique hierarchical morphology not only remarkably shortens the migration pathway of photogenerated charge carriers toward the catalyst surface, but also substantially suppresses bulk-phase charge recombination. Photoelectrochemical characterizations verify that 4-ZGO delivers superior performance in facilitating charge separation and efficient charge migration. As a result, 4-ZGO exhibits exceptional catalytic activity and robust operational stability for photocatalytic CO$_2$ reduction, affording an impressive 6-hour production yield of 34.97~$\mu$mol$\cdot$g$^{-1}$.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
Zn$_2$GeO$_4$
ethylenediamine
morphology control
photocatalytic CO$_2$ reduction
Data Availability Statement
Data will be made available on request.
Funding
This work was supported by the Start-up Fund for New Talented Researchers of Nanjing University of Industry Technology and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China under Grant BK20230309.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
AI Use Statement
The authors declare that no generative AI was used in the preparation of this manuscript.
Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate
Not applicable.
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Cite This Article
APA Style
Wei, Y., Zhao, W., Zhuang, C., & Zhou, Y. (2026). Ethylenediamine-Controlled Morphological Evolution of Tapered Zn2GeO4 Bundles for Light-driven CO2 Photoreduction. Journal of Advanced Materials Research, 2(3), 251-261. https://doi.org/10.62762/JAMR.2026.752860
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TY - JOUR
AU - Wei, Yiqing
AU - Zhao, Wei
AU - Zhuang, Chen
AU - Zhou, Yong
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/03
TI - Ethylenediamine-Controlled Morphological Evolution of Tapered Zn$_2$GeO$_4$ Bundles for Light-driven CO$_2$ Photoreduction
JO - Journal of Advanced Materials Research
T2 - Journal of Advanced Materials Research
JF - Journal of Advanced Materials Research
VL - 2
IS - 3
SP - 251
EP - 261
DO - 10.62762/JAMR.2026.752860
UR - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JAMR.2026.752860
KW - Zn$_2$GeO$_4$
KW - ethylenediamine
KW - morphology control
KW - photocatalytic CO$_2$ reduction
AB - Morphology engineering stands as a cornerstone strategy to boost the light harvesting and charge transport properties of wide-bandgap oxide photocatalysts. Herein, a Zn$_2$GeO$_4$ photocatalyst with a highly symmetric conical bundle architecture is successfully fabricated via modulating the dosage of ethylenediamine (EDA). The introduction of a moderate EDA dosage effectively triggers the anisotropic growth of Zn$_2$GeO$_4$, thus constructing a compact and highly ordered conical bundle microstructure (denoted as 4-ZGO). This unique hierarchical morphology not only remarkably shortens the migration pathway of photogenerated charge carriers toward the catalyst surface, but also substantially suppresses bulk-phase charge recombination. Photoelectrochemical characterizations verify that 4-ZGO delivers superior performance in facilitating charge separation and efficient charge migration. As a result, 4-ZGO exhibits exceptional catalytic activity and robust operational stability for photocatalytic CO$_2$ reduction, affording an impressive 6-hour production yield of 34.97~$\mu$mol$\cdot$g$^{-1}$.
SN - 3070-5851
PB - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge
LA - English
ER -
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@article{Wei2026Ethylenedi,
author = {Yiqing Wei and Wei Zhao and Chen Zhuang and Yong Zhou},
title = {Ethylenediamine-Controlled Morphological Evolution of Tapered Zn\$\_2\$GeO\$\_4\$ Bundles for Light-driven CO\$\_2\$ Photoreduction},
journal = {Journal of Advanced Materials Research},
year = {2026},
volume = {2},
number = {3},
pages = {251-261},
doi = {10.62762/JAMR.2026.752860},
url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JAMR.2026.752860},
abstract = {Morphology engineering stands as a cornerstone strategy to boost the light harvesting and charge transport properties of wide-bandgap oxide photocatalysts. Herein, a Zn\$\_2\$GeO\$\_4\$ photocatalyst with a highly symmetric conical bundle architecture is successfully fabricated via modulating the dosage of ethylenediamine (EDA). The introduction of a moderate EDA dosage effectively triggers the anisotropic growth of Zn\$\_2\$GeO\$\_4\$, thus constructing a compact and highly ordered conical bundle microstructure (denoted as 4-ZGO). This unique hierarchical morphology not only remarkably shortens the migration pathway of photogenerated charge carriers toward the catalyst surface, but also substantially suppresses bulk-phase charge recombination. Photoelectrochemical characterizations verify that 4-ZGO delivers superior performance in facilitating charge separation and efficient charge migration. As a result, 4-ZGO exhibits exceptional catalytic activity and robust operational stability for photocatalytic CO\$\_2\$ reduction, affording an impressive 6-hour production yield of 34.97~\$\mu\$mol\$\cdot\$g\$^{-1}\$.},
keywords = {Zn\$\_2\$GeO\$\_4\$, ethylenediamine, morphology control, photocatalytic CO\$\_2\$ reduction},
issn = {3070-5851},
publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}
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