Light-induced photocatalytic degradation of stearic acid by c-axis oriented ZnO nanowires

Abstract The photocatalytic activity of highly c -axis oriented ZnO nanowires’ arrays grown on seeded glass substrates from aqueous solutions was investigated against the degradation of stearic acid under UV-A light illumination (365 nm). All chemically grown ZnO samples show very good crystallinity and high transmittance in the visible region. The nanowires’ diameter ranges from 35 ± 5 nm to 160 ± 10 nm depending on the grain size of the seed layer applied, while their length (1–1.2 μm) is mainly affected from growth time. It is demonstrated that ZnO nanowires’ arrays show superior photocatalytic activity compared with the stand-alone seed layers, probably due to their enhanced crystallinity and larger surface-to-volume ratio.

[1]  Sang Bum Kim,et al.  Kinetic study for photocatalytic degradation of volatile organic compounds in air using thin film TiO2 photocatalyst , 2002 .

[2]  E. Matijevié,et al.  Synthesis and characterization of zinc ferrite particles prepared by hydrothermal decomposition of zinc chelate solutions , 1993 .

[3]  Huai-jin Zhang,et al.  Zinc oxide films prepared by sol–gel method , 2005 .

[4]  N. Katsarakis,et al.  Photoinduced hydrophilic and photocatalytic response of hydrothermally grown TiO2 nanostructured thin films , 2009 .

[5]  Yan Li,et al.  Fabrication of ZnO nanorods and nanotubes in aqueous solutions , 2005 .

[6]  N. Katsarakis,et al.  Ozone sensing properties of ZnO nanostructures grown by the aqueous chemical growth technique , 2007 .

[7]  Yongfa Zhu,et al.  Structure and photocatalytic characteristics of TiO2 film photocatalyst coated on stainless steel webnet , 2003 .

[8]  L. Jing,et al.  The surface properties and photocatalytic activities of ZnO ultrafine particles , 2001 .

[9]  A. Mills,et al.  A web-based overview of semiconductor photochemistry-based current commercial applications , 2002 .

[10]  N. Katsarakis,et al.  Growth of c-axis oriented ZnO nanowires from aqueous solution: The decisive role of a seed layer for controlling the wires' diameter , 2009 .

[11]  Zhong Lin Wang.  Nanostructures of zinc oxide , 2004 .

[12]  D. Basak,et al.  Effect of thickness on the structural, electrical and optical properties of ZnO films , 2007 .

[13]  Andrew Mills,et al.  Light-driven oxygen scavenging by titania/polymer nanocomposite films , 2004 .

[14]  Motofumi Suzuki,et al.  Photocatalysis of sculptured thin films of TiO2 , 2001 .

[15]  Sung-Hwan Lee,et al.  Inactivation of bacterial endospores by photocatalytic nanocomposites. , 2005, Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces.

[16]  I. Parkin,et al.  Spectral and photocatalytic characteristics of TiO_2 CVD films on quartz , 2002, Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology.

[17]  N. Katsarakis,et al.  Light-induced reversible hydrophilicity of ZnO structures grown by aqueous chemical growth , 2008 .

[18]  Zhongpin Zhang,et al.  Aggregation-driven growth of well-oriented ZnO nanorod arrays , 2006 .

[19]  W. Park,et al.  Photocatalysis Using ZnO Thin Films and Nanoneedles Grown by Metal–Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition , 2004 .

[20]  W. Jardim,et al.  Photocatalytic destruction of VOCs in the gas-phase using titanium dioxide , 1997 .

[21]  L. Vayssieres.  Growth of Arrayed Nanorods and Nanowires of ZnO from Aqueous Solutions , 2003 .

[22]  Peidong Yang,et al.  General route to vertical ZnO nanowire arrays using textured ZnO seeds. , 2005, Nano letters.

[23]  Andrew Mills,et al.  Novel TiO2 CVD films for semiconductor photocatalysis , 2002 .

[24]  V. Murugesan,et al.  Solar photocatalytic degradation of azo dye: comparison of photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO and TiO2 , 2003 .

[25]  A. Fujishima,et al.  PHOTODECOMPOSITION OF A LANGMUIR-BLODGETT FILM OF STEARIC ACID ON TIO2 FILM OBSERVED BY IN SITU ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY AND FT-IR , 1997 .

[26]  Prashant V. Kamat,et al.  A “Sense and Shoot” Approach for Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Contaminants in Water , 2002 .

[27]  K. Guan.  Relationship between photocatalytic activity, hydrophilicity and self-cleaning effect of TiO2/SiO2 films , 2005 .

[28]  A. Mills,et al.  Simultaneous monitoring of the destruction of stearic acid and generation of carbon dioxide by self-cleaning semiconductor photocatalytic films , 2006 .

[29]  Xiulan Hu,et al.  Fabrication of Blanket‐Like Assembled ZnO Nanowhiskers Using an Aqueous Solution , 2009 .

[30]  Yuhe Chen,et al.  Photodegradation of aromatic pollutants in water over TiO2 supported on molecular sieves , 2001 .

[31]  Zheshen Li,et al.  Surface properties and photocatalytic activity of nanocrystalline titania films , 2008 .

[32]  V. Iliev,et al.  Photooxidation of sodium sulfide and sodium thiosulfate under irradiation with visible light catalyzed by water soluble polynuclear phthalocyanine complexes , 2002 .

[33]  D. Das,et al.  Physico-chemical characterization and photocatalytic activity of zinc oxide prepared by various methods. , 2006, Journal of colloid and interface science.

[34]  P. Falaras,et al.  Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic activity of nanocrystalline thin film TiO2 catalysts towards 3,5-dichlorophenol degradation , 2002 .

[35]  J. Qian,et al.  SYNTHESIS AND SURFACE MODIFICATION OF ZNO NANOPARTICLES , 2006 .

[36]  Andrew Mills,et al.  An overview of semiconductor photocatalysis , 1997 .

[37]  Xiao Wei Sun,et al.  Bilayer ZnO nanostructure fabricated by chemical bath and its application in quantum dot sensitized solar cell , 2009 .