Herein, we describe the electrochemical deposition of metallic Zn material with porous architectures and its fabrication on iron substrate at room temperature. The surface chemistry of synthesized Zn material on an iron wire mesh was examined in various ways such as wettability and reactivity. We have explained the growth mechanism of the Zn nanostructure on the iron substrate by an electrochemical reduction method. The synthesized Zn is characterized by various physical methods such as XPS, XRD, and FESEM analyses. The presence of an ultrathin or tiny ZnO layer on the Zn surface is well characterized by XPS analysis only. On treatment with long-chain stearic acid, the outer surface of Zn-ZnO was functionalized with the carboxylic group of stearic acid. This surface modification resulted in a stearic acid-functionalized hierarchical Zn-ZnO nanostructure with a super-hydrophobic surface due to the presence of a long chain of the alkyl part in stearic acid, i.e., surface chemistry. This material is used for fabrication of a smart filter or separator to remove water from the oil−water mixture in a continuous-flow method. In this article, we have also depicted the chemical reactivity of the zinc material in organic transformation, i.e., surface reactivity. The carbonyl compounds are selectively reduced to the corresponding alcohols under mild environmentally friendly conditions by the electrochemical method. A broad functional-group compatibility and chemoselective reduction of carbonyls are highlighted in the present method.
Mandal et al. (Mon,) studied this question.