International Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

International Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Dye Excitation and Surface Defects ‎Mediated Photocatalytic Behavior of ‎Vertically Aligned ZnO Nanorods

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Sundara Venkatesh Perumalsamy 1, 2
Prabhu Saravanan 3
Jothivenkatachalam Kandasamy 4
Jeganathan Kulandaivel 2
1 Nanomaterials Laboratory, Department of Physics, Sri S. Ramasamy Naidu Memorial College, ‎Sattur - 626 203, Tamil Nadu, India‎
2 Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Department of Physics, Bharathidasan ‎University, Tiruchirappalli - 620 024, Tamil Nadu, India‎
3 Department of Physical-Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Sciences, ‎ University of Concepcion, Chile
4 Department of Chemistry, Anna University, BIT Campus, Tiruchirappalli - 620 024, ‎ Tamil Nadu, India
10.22034/ijnn.2023.559299.2248
Abstract
   Photocatalyst for the degradation of the organic dye molecules has been investigated for the highly uniform vertically aligned ZnO nanorods grown on silicon substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. An intense green luminescence located at 2.192 eV is corroborated by the singly charged oxygen vacancies and it is responsible for the visible-light-driven photocatalytic response in ZnO nanorods. The higher photocatalytic activity of organic dyes under the irradiation of visible light is enhanced due to the light absorption and better charge separation (e--h+) in vertically aligned ZnO nanorods. Further, the dye excitation is also accountable for the degradation mechanism besides surface defects under solar irradiation. Moreover, the ZnO nanorods exhibit suppressed photo corrosion and high photo-stability as evidenced by the recovery and recycling studies.
Keywords
ZnO nanorods
Sputtering
Photoluminescence
Dye molecules
Photodegradation.‎
Subjects
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International Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Volume 19, Issue 2
Spring 2023
Pages 109-119