Formation mechanism of ZnO nanosheets combined with regenerated cellulose through NaOH inner‐pore diffusion process

In the present work, regenerated cellulose films with different pore sizes were prepared using cellulose, which can control the synthesis reaction of nano‐ZnO and thus regulate its morphology. The results show that with 0, 4, and 8 g of cellulose applied, average pore sizes of samples increased from 7.0 nm to 14.4 and 20.1 nm, respectively. When no cellulose was used, only large Zn 5 (OH) 8 Cl 2 ·H 2 O (ZHC) flakes were prepared. Long ZnO nano‐sheets and ZHC flakes with a mass fraction of 0.51 and 0.33, respectively, were prepared by adding 4 g cellulose; and ZnO nano‐sheets with a mass fraction of 0.73, with 0.04 ZHC, were synthesised while using 8 g cellulose. The results reveal that the addition of cellulose can improve the average pore diameter of films and enhance the reaction rate of ZnO, resulting in the formation of ZnO nano‐sheets/regenerated cellulose films.