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

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.

Automated summary

This study synthesized three types of ZnO nanostructures using a hydrothermal method with urea as the surfactant, and found that they could effectively degrade methyl orange dye. The use of urea as a surfactant had a significant impact on the morphology and photocatalytic performance of ZnO nanostructures.