Activity Of Zinc Oxide Nanorods Research Articles

Photocatalytic activity of zinc oxide nanorods incorporated graphitic carbon nitride catalyst

Background: Photocatalysts are user-friendly and serve as compatible materials for degrading industrial dye pollutants. This study utilizes zinc oxide/graphitic carbon nitride (ZnO/g-C3N4) nanocomposites against degrading methylene blue (MB). Methods: The hydrothermal method assisted sonication technique was used to fabricate the ZnO/g-C3N4 composite with varying ratios of ZnO/g-C3N4 (1:0.25, 1:0.50, 1:1). The synthesized materials have undergone various sophisticated techniques for finding their physiochemical properties and have been utilized for photodegradation activities. Significant Findings: The characterized results exhibit that the nanoflakes of g-C3N4 were covered with nanorods of zinc oxide when observed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies demonstrate that the ZnO/g-C3N4 material was successfully synthesized. The X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra revealed the present oxidation states and chemical bonding of the materials. The photocatalytic activity results demonstrated that the concentration of ZnO molar ratio in varying g-C3N4 significantly affected the decomposition performance. The ZnO/g-C3N4 (1:0.50) presented a higher rate of degradation, reaching 92% at 120 minutes under UV light and 65% at 240 minutes under visible light irradiation. This could be explained by the mechanism that follows the separation of charge carriers, thereby producing hydroxyl radicals for the effective degradation of MB pollutants.

Green synthesis of stable antioxidant, anticancer and photocatalytic activity of zinc oxide nanorods from Leea asiatica leaf

The present work reveals zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO NRs) obtained via green synthesis approach utilizing phytochemicals present in the Leea asiatica plant. The synthesized ZnO NRs was confirmed by various characterization methods like X-ray diffraction, FTIR, SEM-EDX, UV–vis, TEM and Raman spectra analysis. The obtained nanorods show less particle size with a distinctive high surface area. The photodegradation activity of obtained ZnO NRs shows 81.3 % of dye degradation at high concentration whereas 42.9 % in low concentration and also antioxidant test shows a better result for free radical scavenging. To understand the safety of the ZnO NRs zebrafish embryos was utilized as a model and found to be less toxic after assessment. Furthermore, to understand the anticancer activity of ZnO NRs it was assessed against breast cancer cell line through MTT, XTT, NRU, and LDH assay. The ZnO NRs exposed against breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) had resulted in necrosis and apoptosis which was further confirmed by genotoxicity assay. Also, the molecular mechanisms behind the necrosis and apoptosis are also discussed to show the involvement of ZnO NRs towards breast cancer cells (MCF-7). The present study on ZnO NRs gives a wide spectrum understanding of using ZnO NRs as a potential drug for human breast cancer by showing its physiological pathways as well as a novel way to synthesize ZnO NRs using Leea asiatica plant extract.

PH study of zinc oxide nanorods grown on indium tin oxide coated substrate,

Controlled growth of ZnO nanorods on various substrates is of great interest in photonic and electronic device applications. Also of interest is increasing the optical activity of zinc oxide nanorods in the visible spectrum. In this study, we report pH dependence for the morphology and photoluminescence of aligned ZnO nanorods grown on an indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate deposited by a wet chemical bath deposition method. The ZnO nanorods were grown by a chemical bath deposition technique using equimolar ratios of zinc (II) nitrate and hexamethylenetetramine in solution at 95 °C. The pH of the reaction solution prior to oven heating was varied from pH 5 to 10.6. Surface properties of the ZnO nanorods on ITO substrates were studied using scanning electron microscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy. We also compared the use of NaOH to adjust the pH with the use of NH4OH, the latter necessary at higher pH due to the relative insolubility of zinc. It was found that the size of the nanorods can vary twofold with pH and the choice of base. Uniformity of coverage is also significantly dependent upon these variables and will be discussed as it relates to solubility and crystal growth. It was also found that the intensity of the photoluminescence in the visible range is pH dependent. For example, the intensity of luminescence at 550 nm for ZnO nanorods grown at pH 7 using NH4OH is 532% of the corresponding emission for a sample prepared at pH 5.

Applications of Zinc Oxide Nanorods as Photocatalyst for the Decontamination of Imidacloprid and Spirotetramat Residues in Water

Zinc oxide nanorods having the size 100 to 250 nm and 1 to 2 � m length were prepared by reacting zinc acetate with triethanolamine. The structure of the nanorods was confirmed by scanning electron microscope analysis. Photocata- lytic activity of zinc oxide nanorods on the new class of ketoenole and chloronicotinyl in secticides spirotetramat and imi- dacloprid was investigated. The decontamination effect of catalyst on the residues of spirotetramat and imidacloprid in water was studied at three different buffer solutions (4.0, 7.0 and 9.0). The catalytic reaction was measured under direct sunlight at two different concentration levels and the optimum concentration of catalyst re quired for the decontamination was also established by varying the amount of catalyst from 0.02 to 0.2 g/L. Residues are quantified by a high perform- ance liquid chromatography UV method (HPLC-UV) and calculated the DT 50 and DT 90 from the dissipation data. The rate of the reaction showed first order ki netics in water. The addition of zinc oxide nanorods induced the photocatalytic reaction contributing significantly to the rapid dissipation of residues. Complete mineralization of the residues was con- firmed by liquid chromatography electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). The method has the limit of quantification 0.1 � g/L in water.