Sonophotocatalytic degradation of methyl orange using ZnO nano-aggregates

A simple, facile and rapid solution combustion method utilizing dextrose as fuel was employed to synthesize zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-aggregates at high temperature 450 degrees C. The synthesized nanomaterials were characterized in terms of their morphological, structural, compositional, optical and photocatalytic properties. The detailed characterizations confirmed that the synthesized ZnO nano-aggregate possessed high density and exhibit well-crystallinity with good optical properties. The sonophotocatalytic properties of the synthesized ZnO nano-aggregates was carried out by performing the degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye under UV light. A strong synergism was observed between UV light and ZnO nano-aggregates for the photodegradation process, whereas sonolytic and photolytic degradation processes were found to operate independently. The presence of air in the aqueous suspensions of MO dye was also shown a significant impact in the photodegradation rate. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.