Efficient Photo-catalytic Degradation of Acid Red 183 dye in the presence of ZnO nano-whiskers

Abstract

This paper reports on ZnO nano-whiskers (ZNWs), synthesized by sol-gel method at a pre-determined speed by using zinc acetate dehydrate and a cationic surfactant, N-cetyl-N,N,N-trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) . The effect of pre-determined stirring condition on the particle size, aspect-ratio and morphology of ZNWs has been studied. The SEM and TEM result shows that zinc oxide developed into the huge colony consisting of adequate ZnO nano-whiskers, which contained a large number of long needle-like whiskers and the density of these colonies showed a good amount in each bunch. The average length and diameter of the long needle-like ZnO nano-whiskers are 36 nm and 1.15 nm, respectively, and their average aspect ratio was L/D = 31.3.The photo-catalytic activity of the ZNWs was executed by studying the degradation of Acid Red 183 as a function of irradiation time resulting into 68% of decolouration after 150 min of irradiation in the presence of ZNWs under UV light illumination.

Sol-gel synthesis of thorn-like ZnO nanoparticles endorsing mechanical stirring effect and their antimicrobial activities: Potential role as nano-antibiotics

“…The size characterization of ZnO-NPs was performed using a Transmission electron microscope (TEM) (JEM-2100F; Jeol, Tokyo, Japan) 23 featuring ultra high resolution and rapid data acquisition. The lyophilized ZnO-NPs was suspended in 20 mM phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.4) and a drop of the nanoparticles was mounted on a clear glass stub, air-dried, and coated with gold-palladium alloy using a sputter coater.…”