Growth of Interconnected ZnO Nanostructures-Its Photocatalytic and Electrochemical Properties

We report the synthesis of interconnected ZnO nano structures through the addition of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) in a growth medium consisting of ZnCl2 and NaOH at a temperature of 70 0C with a reaction time of 24 hrs. The formation of interconnected ZnO is evaluated in accordance with the reaction time and reaction temperature used for the synthesis, and samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infra- red (FTIR) spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET) analysis, Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Photoluminescence (PL) and Electrochemical methods. BET studies show the mesoporous nature of ZnO grown with the addition of PVP in the growth medium. Interconnected ZnO nanostructures exhibit efficient visible light driven photo catalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) attributed to interconnected morphology of ZnO. Electro chemical studies have shown that the interconnected ZnO nanostructures give higher order specific capacitance.

Effect of calcination temperature on the morphology and catalytic properties of ZnO nanostructures fabricated from a chiral precursor for photodegradation of both cationic and anionic dyes

Diverse ZnO nanostructures (ZnO_1 to ZnO_3) were synthesized by direct calcination of a chiral MOF precursor {[Zn4(µ3-OH)2(D-2,4-cbs)2(H2O)4].5H2O}n (Zn-CBS) at three different temperatures 600, 700 and 800 oC, respectively. On the...