Photoelectrochemical properties and photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange dye by different ZnO nanostructures

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2022-04, Vol.33 (12), p.9732-9742
• Main Authors: Jayakrishnan, C., Sheeja, S. R., Duraimurugan, J., Prabhu, S., Ramesh, R., Kumar, G. Suresh, Maadeswaran, P., Shkir, Mohd
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catalytic activity; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Dyes; Materials Science; Nanostructure; Optical and Electronic Materials; Photocatalysis; Photodegradation; Surfactants; Synthesis; Ureas; Zinc oxide
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-022-07801-0

In this study, three types of ZnO nanostructures were synthesized by a one-step facile hydrothermal method with the aid of urea as the surfactant. Synthesized ZnO nanostructures were characterized by different methods including XRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM, TEM and UV-DRS. The catalytic behavior of ZnO nanostructures was studied against methyl orange dye degradation under the illumination of a halogen lamp. The mono-dumbbell, modified dumbbell, and floral-like ZnO nanostructure with a bandgap of 3.18 eV, 3.15 eV, and 3.11 eV were obtained using different concentrations of urea which show the methyl orange degradation efficacy of 59%, 87%, and 92% in 30 min, respectively. The possible mechanism for photocatalytic activity was also discussed. The obtained results revealed that ZnO nanostructures with different degradation efficacy can be obtained by the hydrothermal method with the aid of urea as the surfactant and it can be a potential approach to prepare photocatalyst toward environmental remediation.