ZnO nanostructures for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue: effect of different anodization parameters

Abstract

In this paper, the photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanostructures formed by anodization method with different parameters was investigated. The synthesis of ZnO nanostructures with different morphology by varying anodic oxidation parameters containing electrolytes, molarity, voltage, and duration was analyzed. ZnO nanostructures were prepared through different parameters consisting of six samples. The produced ZnO nanostructures were investigated by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. It was found that the morphology of ZnO structures was formed as nanorods, needle-like, flower-like, heterogeneous, and homogeneous of mixed structures. ZnO nanostructures were identified by matching X-Ray diffraction peaks due to the international center for diffraction data database. Experiments on photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue demonstrated that the photocatalytic activity of ZnO samples. The best photocatalytic performance was observed by the sample anodized for an hour in 0.05 M of KHCO3 electrolytes with 40 V electrical potential. It was observed that the removal of methylene blue increased 3 times (photocatalytic degradation efficiency similar to 31% for methylene blue vs similar to 90% by the best sample) thanks to the obtained ZnO nanostructured photocatalysts. The results showed that an increment of the voltage has a significant effect on the photocatalytic activity of ZnO while keeping other parameters including molarity, time, and electrolyte type constant.