OBTAINING ZnO IMMOBILIZED OVER DIFFERENT SUBSTRATES BY HYDROTHERMAL TREATMENT FOR PHOTOCATALYSIS APPLICATION

Abstract

The aim of this work is to systematically explore the effect of the synthesis conditions of ZnO structures, immobilized on different substrates by hydrothermal treatment, in its photocatalytic activity. A circumscribed central composite design of experiments was used to analyze the effects of reagents stoichiometry, reaction time and temperature, covering a wide range of these variables. The substrates used were etched glass, copper and zinc foils. The photocatalytic activity of the as-obtained ZnO samples was evaluated through photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) in aqueous solution under UV irradiation. Zinc foils presented the best immobilized film quality and the maximum dye removal was 80% in one hour of UV exposure.

Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue Using Zinc Oxide Nanorods Grown on Activated Carbon Fibers

“…Many scientists have begun to focus on finding a practical solution to the immobilization of ZnO nanostructures on a suitable substrate with various porosities such as porous ceramics, zeolite, FTO glass, Teflon, PDMS, rGO, and carbonaceous materials [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Among the several studies cited above, carbon materials such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon fibers (CFs), carbon quantum dots (c-dots), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and activated carbon fibers (ACFs) have been used as support substrates for ZnO nanostructures [22,23].…”