Degradation of methylene blue and rhodamine B by hollow ZnO microspheres formed of radially oriented nanorods

Abstract

It is crucial to find effective solutions to environmental contamination that are also ecologically friendly. Zinc oxide (ZnO) is well-known as a promising photocatalyst. In this work, ZnO microspheres were synthesized using the solvothermal technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to evaluate the structural, optical, and morphological features of ZnO microspheres. The hexagonal structure of ZnO was determined using XRD analysis. The crystal size of ZnO was calculated using XRD patterns and was found to be 44.27 nm by the Debye-Scherrer equation, 32.39 nm by using the Williamson Hall model, and 9.92 nm by the Modified Scherrer formula. The SEM pictures of the manufactured ZnO revealed that it has a shape in the form of microspheres formed by the conjunction of hexagonal nanorods. The average diameter of these microspheres is 5.16 μm. ZnO has a band gap energy of 3.1 eV. The photocatalytic activities of ZnO microspheres against methylene blue and Rhodamine B dyes were examined. Under sunlight, photocatalytic removal rates for methylene blue after 90 minutes and Rhodamine B after 120 minutes were 98.95% and 98.62%, respectively.

Keywords

• ZnO
• Microspheres
• Methylene blue
• Rhodamine B
• Photocatalytic

Metilen mavisi ve rhodamine B'nin radyal olarak yönlendirilmiş ZnO nanoçubuklardan oluşan içi boş mikroküreler tarafından bozunması

Öz

Çevre kirliliğine karşı çevre dostu etkili çözümler bulmak çok önemlidir. Çinko oksit (ZnO), iyi bir fotokatalizör olarak bilinir. Bu çalışmada solvotermal teknik kullanılarak ZnO mikroküreler sentezlenmiştir. ZnO mikrokürelerin yapısal, optik ve morfolojik özelliklerini değerlendirmek için X-ışını kırınımı (XRD), UV-Vis ve taramalı elektron mikroskobu (SEM) kullanıldı. ZnO'nun hegzagonal yapısı, XRD analiziyle belirlendi. ZnO'nun kristal boyutu, XRD desenleri kullanılarak hesaplandı ve Debye-Scherrer denklemi ile 44.27 nm, Williamson Hall modeli kullanılarak 32.39 nm ve Modifiye Scherrer formülü ile 9.92 nm olarak bulundu. Üretilen ZnO'nun SEM görüntüleri, altıgen nanoçubukların birleşmesiyle oluşan mikroküreler şeklinde bir yapıya sahip olduğunu ortaya koydu. Bu mikrokürelerin ortalama çapı 5.16 μm'dir. ZnO, 3.1 eV'lik bir bant aralığı enerjisine sahiptir. ZnO mikrokürelerin metilen mavisi ve Rhodamine B boyalarına karşı fotokatalitik aktiviteleri incelenmiştir. Güneş ışığı altında, 90 dakika sonunda metilen mavisi ve 120 dakika sonra Rhodamine B için fotokatalitik giderme oranları sırasıyla %98.95 ve %98.62’dir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• ZnO
• Mikroküreler
• Metilen mavisi
• Rhodamine B
• Fotokatalitik

Kaynakça

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