Electrochemical Synthesis and Photocatalytic Property of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

• Published in: Nano-micro letters 2012-01, Vol.4 (1), p.14-24
• Main Authors: Chandrappa, Kodihalli G., Venkatesha, Thimmappa V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Engineering; Nanoscale Science and Technology; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering
• ISSN: 2150-5551; 2311-6706; 2150-5551
• DOI: 10.1007/bf03353686

Zinc oxide(ZnO) nanoparticles of varying sizes(20, 44 and 73 nm) have been successfully synthesized by a hybrid electrochemical-thermal method using aqueous sodium bicarbonate electrolyte and sacrificial Zn anode and cathode in an undivided cell under galvanostatic mode at room temperature. The as-synthesized product was characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra(XPS), Scanning electron microscopy along with Energy dispersive analysis of X-ray(SEM/EDAX), Transmission electron microscopy(TEM), Ultra Violet- Diffuse reflectance spectroscopic methods(UV-DRS). and UV-DRS spectral methods.The as-synthesized compound were single-crystalline and Rietveld refinement of calcined samples exhibited hexagonal(Wurtzite) structure with space group of P63mc(No.186). The band gaps for synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were 3.07, 3.12 and 3.13 e V, respectively, based on the results of diffuse reflectance spectra(DRS). The electrochemically synthesized ZnO powder was used as photocatalysts for UV-induced degradation of Methylene blue(MB). Photodegradation was also found to be function of exposure time and dye solution p H. It has been found that as-synthesized powder has excellent photocatalytic activity with 92% degradation of MB, indicating ZnO nanoparticles can play an important role as a semiconductor photocatalyst.