Photocatalytic activity of zinc oxide for dye and drug degradation: A review

Photocatalysis has been drawing in an expanding interest due to its many applications. Metal oxides are considered as best photocatalyst due to its remarkable properties, economical and persistent. When metal oxides exposed to light there is an excitation of electrons and formation of holes in valence band hence free radical mechanism initiates. Several metal oxides can act as photocatalyst but zinc oxide has been most generally concentrated because of its capacity to breakdown pollutants into simpler molecules and even accomplish total degradation. Zinc oxide nanoparticles has large band gap that is 3.37 eV and 60 meV excitation binding energy due to this it gains attention in research. In this review paper photocatalytic degradation of zinc oxide has been highlighted. Nanoparticles of ZnO have been investigated as photocatalysts that can be applied for degradation of dyes, drugs and other pollutants. Comparative study of degradation efficiency of different dyes and drugs has been presented here. Maximum degradation efficiency of dyes is 100% and drugs is 98% which have been reported. Copyright (C) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.