Three dimensional (3D) flower-like basic zinc carbonate constructed by multilayered nanoplates were rapidly prepared at room temperature through the direct precipitation method coupled with membrane dispersion technology, and porous ZnO with similar structures could be obtained after calcining the precursor. The structural properties of the products before and after the calcining process were characterized by SEM, TEM and XRD. The supersaturation of the reaction system due to the membrane dispersion played an important role in the formation of uniform Zns(CO3)(2)(OH)(6) precursors. A plausible mechanism was proposed for the formation of the flower-like ZnO assembled by nanoplates composed of nanoparticles. The obtained ZnO microspheres showed excellent photocatalytic properties, which could be attributed to the open structure and remarkable amount of porous nanoplates. (C) 2018 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.