Improved Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dyes by ZnO-Nanoflowers

Abstract

Recently, we reported one pot synthesis of ZnO nanoflowers (ZnO-NFs) by using asymmetric Zn(II) dimeric complex, [Zn(hmp-H)2(H2O)(μ-Cl)Zn(μ-Cl)(Cl)3],(A), [hmp-H=2-(2-hydroxymethyl)pyridine)] as a single molecular precursor at room temperature (RT). The prepared ZnO-NFs catalyst was systematically probed for its structural, morphological and functional properties. Our primary aim was to utilize ZnO-NFs to find a superior photocatalyst for the degradation of different dyes such as Methyl orange (MO), Congo red (CR), Chicago sky blue (CSB) and Eosin B (EO) which are commonly found in industrial waste and are major contributor to the river pollutant. In order to overcome this problem, we explored the photocatalytic performance of ZnO-NFs, which results in improved photocatalytic activity towards MO dye (15 mg/L, 99.46 %) compared to other dyes CR, CSB and EO. Based on the photocatalytic evaluations, ZnO-NFs could possess versatile photocatalytic properties for remediation of contaminated water. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim