Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T04:38:16.290Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Zinc Oxide Nanostructures Synthesized by a Simple Hot Water Treatment Method for Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants in Water

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2020

Ranjitha Kumarapuram Hariharalakshmanan ,
Nawzat S. Saadi ,
Busra Ergul-Yilmaz ,
Khalidah H. Al – Mayalee  and
Tansel Karabacak
Ranjitha Kumarapuram Hariharalakshmanan*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR72204, USA
Nawzat S. Saadi
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR72204, USA
Busra Ergul-Yilmaz
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR72204, USA
Khalidah H. Al – Mayalee
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR72204, USA Physics Department, Faculty of Education for Girls, University of Kufa, Najaf, Iraq
Tansel Karabacak
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR72204, USA
*
rhariharalak@ualr.edu
Get access

Abstract

The use of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures as a photocatalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants in water has received significant attention over the recent years. However, synthesis methods for producing ZnO nanostructures are generally costly, complicated, and hazardous to the environment. In this work, we demonstrate the synthesis of ZnO nanostructures by a simple hot water treatment (HWT) method and the photocatalytic activity of the hence produced nanostructures. HWT is a one-step, low-cost, eco-friendly, and scalable nanostructure growth method. By HWT, various metal-oxide nanostructures can be produced simply by the interaction of metals with hot water without the need for any chemical additives in the solution. Growth of metal-oxide nanostructures by HWT involves the formation of metal-oxides and their release from the surface of the metal into water, the migration of the metal-oxides in water, and their re-deposition at a different part of the metallic surface, which initiates the growth of nanostructures. In this study, we used zinc powder and plates for producing the ZnO nanostructures by HWT in DI water at 75°C. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were utilized to verify the formation of ZnO nanostructures. Zinc plates produced a suspension of ZnO nanostructures in water, while on the other hand, zinc powder resulted in ZnO nanostructures grown on the powder surface as well as standalone ZnO nanostructures also mixed in water. We used these nanostructures + water suspensions for our photocatalytic degradation studies. Methylene blue (MB) was used as a model organic pollutant. We mixed the ZnO nanostructure suspension with MB and exposed it to UV light. The degradation of MB was observed by measuring its absorbance values using a UV-Visible spectrophotometer over a period of 4 hours. We observed a 20% decrease in the concentration of MB in 4 hours when nanostructured Zn/ZnO powder suspension was used, and a 30% decrease was achieved when ZnO nanostructure-only suspension produced from zinc plates was used. MB alone was also exposed to UV light for the same period as a control experiment, and we did not observe any significant decrease in its concentration. These results indicate that the hot water treatment method presents a very simple, cost-effective, scalable, and eco–friendly alternative for the synthesis of ZnO nanostructures for photocatalytic water treatment applications.

Type
Articles
Information
MRS Advances , Volume 5 , Issue 48-49: Energy, Storage and Conversion , 2020 , pp. 2457 - 2465
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Chhetri, B.P., Soni, D., Rangumagar, A.B., Parnell, C.M., Wayland, H., Watanabe, F., Kannarpady, G., Biris, A.S., and Ghosh, A., Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 5, 2586 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rajeshwar, K., Chenthamarakshan, C.R., Goeringer, S., and Djukic, M., Pure and Applied Chemistry 73, 1849 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhou, Q., Wen, J., Zhao, P., and Anderson, W., Nanomaterials 7, 9 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azeez, F., Al-Hetlani, E., Arafa, M., Abdelmonem, Y., Nazeer, A.A., Amin, M.O., and Madkour, M., Scientific Reports 8, (2018).10.1038/s41598-018-25673-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ma, C., Zhou, Z., Wei, H., Yang, Z., Wang, Z., and Zhang, Y., Nanoscale Research Letters 6, 536 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basnet, P. and Zhao, Y., Catalysis Science & Technology 6, 2228 (2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sugunan, V.K. Guduru, A. Uheida, M.S. Toprak, and M. Muhammed, , Journal of the American Ceramic Society 93, 3740 (2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fujishima, A., Zhang, X., Chimie, C. R. 8 (2005).Google Scholar
Ong, C.B., Ng, L.Y., and Mohammad, A.W., Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 81, 536 (2018).10.1016/j.rser.2017.08.020CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khedir, K.R., Saifaldeen, Z.S., Demirkan, T., Abdulrahman, R.B., and Karabacak, T., Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 17, 4842 (2017).10.1166/jnn.2017.13432CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, J.M. and Chen, Y.-R., The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 115, 2235 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, S.C., Journal of Nanoengineering and Nanomanufacturing 3, 283 (2013).10.1166/jnan.2013.1147CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saadi, N.S., Hassan, L.B., and Karabacak, T., Scientific Reports 7, (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Al-Mayalee, K.H., Saadi, N., Badradeen, E., Watanabe, F., and Karabacak, T., The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 122, 23312 (2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassan, L.B., Saadi, N.S., and Karabacak, T., The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology 93, 1107 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saifaldeen, Z.S., Khedir, K.R., Cansizoglu, M.F., Demirkan, T., and Karabacak, T., Journal of Materials Science 49, 1839 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azmina, M.S., Nor, R.M., Rafaie, H.A., Razak, N.S.A., Sani, S.F.A., and Osman, Z., Applied Nanoscience 7, 885 (2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupan, O., Chow, L., Chai, G., and Heinrich, H., Chemical Physics Letters 465, 249 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jin, S.-E., Jin, J.E., Hwang, W., and Hong, S.W., International Journal of Nanomedicine Volume 14, 1737 (2019).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Y. Li, D. Shuai, Y. Shen, and D. Wang, , Chemical Engineering Journal 355, 399 (2019).CrossRefGoogle Scholar