Sucrose-Mediated Fast Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants in Water

Md Tariqul Islam; Arieana Dominguez; Bonifacio Alvarado-Tenorio; Ricardo A Bernal; Milka O Montes; Juan C Noveron

doi:10.1021/acsomega.9b00023

Sucrose-Mediated Fast Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants in Water

ACS Omega. 2019 Apr 10;4(4):6560-6572. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.9b00023. eCollection 2019 Apr 30.

Authors

Md Tariqul Islam^{1

2}, Arieana Dominguez¹, Bonifacio Alvarado-Tenorio³, Ricardo A Bernal¹, Milka O Montes⁴, Juan C Noveron^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Texas, El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, Texas 79968, United States.
² Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), Rice University, 6100 Main Steet, MS 6398, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
³ Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua 32315, Mexico.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, University of Texas, Permian Basin, 4901 E University Blvd, Odessa, Texas 79762, United States.

Abstract

We report a facile method for the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (nZnOs) by rapidly heating a paste of zinc nitrate and sucrose on the hot plate at 500 °C. The transmission electron microscopy images revealed the spherical shape of the nZnO with an average size of 35 nm. The band gap and the specific surface area of the nZnO were measured to be about 3.32 eV and 80.11 m²/g, respectively. The nZnO was utilized for the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) in water under the ultraviolet (UV-B) light and sunlight irradiation. Photocatalysis was performed in two types of water matrices, viz., the deionized water and the simulated fresh drinking water. Almost a complete degradation of MO and MB was obtained within 30 min of UV-B light irradiation. Under sunlight irradiation, more than 95% of the MO solution underwent degradation within 30 min. The photocatalytic stability of the nZnO was examined for five cycles, and a similar activity was found throughout the cycles. The photocatalytic generation of the hydroxyl radical (^•OH) was confirmed by the terephthalic acid photoluminescence tests. Moreover, the synthesis methodology was validated by triplicating the nZnO synthesis. Every time, the nZnO demonstrated a similar photocatalytic activity, which confirmed the robustness of the synthesis procedure.