SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ZnO NANOPARTICLES FOR PHOTOCATALYTIC REMOVAL OF PHENOL FROM WATER

Easy synthesis was performed for ZnO nanoparticles by precipitation method followed by its calcination in atmospheric oxygen at a temperature range 400-550 degrees C for 2 h. XRD, TEM, SEM, BET surface area and UV-vis spectroscopy analyses were utilized for ZnO characterization. The as-synthesized ZnO nanoparticles showed high photocatalytic efficiency for the removal of aqueous phenol comparing with direct photolysis using UV radiation. ZnO calcined at 400 degrees C (ZnO-400) has an average crystallite size of about 43 nm and a particle size range 15-40 nm according to XRD and TEM analyses, respectively. It has a hexagonal wurtzite structure with an estimated optical band gap energy of 3.17 eV from spectrophotometric analysis. The BET surface area decreases from: 13.8 m(2)/g to 8.34 m(2)/g with increasing calcination temperature from 400 degrees C to 550 degrees C.