zinc oxide; photocatalysts; morphologies; polar facets; sol-gel; water treatment
Abstract :
[en] Three zinc oxide catalysts with different morphologies are synthesized by the sol-gel method. Zinc acetate and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) are used to produce nanorods (NR) and nanodiscs (ND). ZnO nanoflowers (NF) are produced from different reactants, namely zinc nitrate and sodium 2 hydroxide. The photocatalysts are efficient for degrading p-nitrophenol under halogen lamp illumination (300 nm-800 nm). X-ray diffraction confirms the presence of the wurtzite structure and scanning electron microscopy confirms the desired morphologies. In order to understand the differences in the kinetic rate of degradation between the three catalysts, surface defects are investigated using photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy. Moreover, colloidal stability and specific surface area are determined by zeta potential and nitrogen sorption measurements, respectively, and allow the impact of the different parameters on the photocatalytic performance of the samples to be clearly understood. Although they do not have the highest number of defects nor the largest specific surface area, ND show the best degradation results by reaching 77% of degradation after 8 h. This result can be attributed to the morphology of this catalyst, where the polar facets are exposed to the medium and play a crucial role in the photocatalytic performance by enhancing the lifetime of the electron/hole pairs generated upon illumination. The polar nature of both catalyst and pollutant increases the contact between them and, consequently, the degradation efficiency.
Disciplines :
Materials science & engineering Chemical engineering
Author, co-author :
Farcy, Antoine ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Chemical engineering
Lambert, Stéphanie ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Department of Chemical Engineering
Poelman, Dirk; LumiLab, Department of Solid State Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Yang, Zetian; LumiLab, Department of Solid State Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Drault, Fabien; Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences -Molecular Chemistry, Materials and Catalysis (IMCN/MOST), Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
Hermans, Sophie; Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences -Molecular Chemistry, Materials and Catalysis (IMCN/MOST), Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
Drogui, Patrick; Centre-Eau Terre Environnement, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), Université du Québec, Québec, Canada
Heinrichs, Benoît ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Department of Chemical Engineering
Malherbe, Cédric ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Molecular Systems (MolSys)
Eppe, Gauthier ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de chimie (sciences) > Laboratoire de spectrométrie de masse (L.S.M.)
Verdin, Alexandre ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de chimie (sciences) > Chimie analytique inorganique
Mahy, Julien ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Chemical engineering ; Centre-Eau Terre Environnement, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), Université du Québec, Québec, Canada
Language :
English
Title :
Influence of crystallographic facet orientations of sol-gel ZnO on the photocatalytic degradation of p-nitrophenol in water
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