Effects of calcination temperature and heating rate on the photocatalytic properties of ZnO prepared by pyrolysis

Lingling He; Zhifang Tong; Zhonghua Wang; Ming Chen; Ni Huang; Wei Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2017.09.021

Effects of calcination temperature and heating rate on the photocatalytic properties of ZnO prepared by pyrolysis

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2018 Jan 1:509:448-456. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.09.021. Epub 2017 Sep 8.

Authors

Lingling He¹, Zhifang Tong¹, Zhonghua Wang², Ming Chen¹, Ni Huang¹, Wei Zhang³

Affiliations

¹ Chemical Synthesis and Pollution Control Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, Sichuan Province, PR China.
² Chemical Synthesis and Pollution Control Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, Sichuan Province, PR China. Electronic address: zhwangs@163.com.
³ College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou 215123, PR China. Electronic address: weizhang@suda.edu.cn.

PMID: 28923742
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.09.021

Abstract

A series of ZnO nanorods were prepared by pyrolysis of zinc acetate at different calcination temperatures and heating rates under ambient atmosphere. The as-prepared ZnO nanorods were characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic performances of the ZnO nanorods were evaluated by the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) and 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The morphology, optical property, surface composition, and photocatalytic performance of the ZnO samples were affected by both calcination temperature and heating rate. The photocatalytic activity of the ZnO sample was obviously decreased with increased heating rate, which might be ascribed to the simultaneous decrease of oxygen vacancies and surface adsorption oxygen species. The ZnO nanorods prepared at 300°C with a heating rate of 1°C/min exhibited good photocatalytic activity and photochemical stability, allowing good potential practical application in environmental remediation.

Keywords: Calcination temperature; Environmental remediation; Heating rate; Photocatalytic activity; Pyrolytic synthesis; ZnO nanorods.