| Abstrakt: |
Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles with diverse morphologies were synthesized using an economical and environmentally friendly co-precipitation method. The samples underwent characterization through X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive spectra analysis. The photocatalytic degradation capabilities of the synthesized samples were assessed using organic dyes and antibiotics as model pollutants. SEM images revealed nanospheres, nanorods, and nanotubes structures of ZnO under three distinct conditions. The average crystallite sizes of hexagonal wurtzite ZnO samples were determined using Debye–Scherrer's formula from the full width at half maximum of XRD peaks, resulting in sizes of 52.80, 57.23, and 78.02 nm for ZnO nanospheres (ZnO-S), ZnO nanotubes (ZnO-T), and ZnO nanorods (ZnO-R), respectively. The optical band gap energies were measured at 3.25, 3.26, and 3.28 eV for ZnO-S, ZnO-T, and ZnO-R, respectively, demonstrating lower values compared to bulk ZnO (3.37 eV). Photocatalytic efficiency assessment using methylene blue indicated that ZnO-S exhibited the highest degradation efficiency (98.64%), followed by ZnO-T (97.63%) and ZnO-R (59.94%) under optimized conditions of 0.05 g/L catalyst dose, 90-min irradiation time, 130-W light intensity, and 1-mg/L methylene blue concentration. ZnO-S demonstrated effective photocatalysis in the ofloxacin degradation with a rate constant of 0.0112 min−1. According to a study on photocatalytic mechanisms, hydroxyl radicals play an important role in the degradation of pollutants. The photocatalyst maintains high photocatalytic efficiency even after five uses. Collectively, ZnO with different morphologies holds promise as a potential catalyst for environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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