Photocatalytic degradation of TOC from aqueous phenol solution using solution combusted ZnO nanopowders

ZnO nanopowders were prepared by solution combustion method (SCM). The ZnO nanopowders synthesized using Zn(OH)2 and glycine as an oxidant and a fuel (with fuel/oxidant ratio, F/O = 0.8), showed excellent crystalline and photocatalytic characteristics. In order to evaluate the photocatalytic reactivity of the prepared ZnO nanopowder, it was tried to decompose total organic carbon (TOC) from aqueous phenol solution. Several kinds of TiO2 nanopowders were also tried to compare the photocatalytic reactivity. Surprisingly, SCM ZnO nanopowder shows 1.6 fold higher destruction rates of the organic pollutant than P-25 TiO2 nanopowder that is known as a kind of standard photocatalyst.