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

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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgements

One of the authors Dr. P. Maadeswaran acknowledges the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, Government of India for support under UGC-BSR Start-Up Grant (No. 30-361/2017 (BSR)). The author from KKU would like to express his gratitude to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia, for funding this work through Research Groups Program under Grant No. R.G.P.2/160/42.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Research and Development Centre, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, 641 046, India

    C. Jayakrishnan

  2. Department of Chemistry, Government College Madappally, Kozhikode, Kerala, 673102, India

    S. R. Sheeja

  3. Department of Energy Science, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu, 636 011, India

    J. Duraimurugan & P. Maadeswaran

  4. Department of Physics, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu, 636 011, India

    S. Prabhu & R. Ramesh

  5. Department of Physics, K.S. Rangasamy College of Arts and Science (Autonomous), Tiruchengode, Tamil Nadu, 637 215, India

    G. Suresh Kumar

  6. Advanced Functional Materials and Optoelectronics Laboratory (AFMOL), Department of Physics, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia

    Mohd. Shkir

  7. School of Science & Technology, Glocal University, Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 247 121, India

    Mohd. Shkir

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  1. C. Jayakrishnan
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Contributions

CJ: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing and investigation, SSR: Methodology, JD: Formal analysis and investigation, SP: Writing—original draft preparation, RR and GS: Writing—review and editing, PM: Resources, SSR and MS: Supervision.

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Correspondence to C. Jayakrishnan or S. R. Sheeja.

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Jayakrishnan, C., Sheeja, S.R., Duraimurugan, J. et al. Photoelectrochemical properties and photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange dye by different ZnO nanostructures. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 9732–9742 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-07801-0

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