Hydrothermal synthesis of ZnO nanopowder and its photocatalytic performance under UV and visible light irradiation

ZnO nanopowder was synthesized by hydrothermal method and characterized by different spectroscopic techniques. X-ray diffraction measurements reveal the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO and the average crystallite size is evaluated as 34 nm. Morphological and chemical compositional details were investigated by SEM, TEM and EDS analysis. Optical absorption spectrum exhibited a characteristic exciton absorption band at 363 nm. PL spectrum exhibited various bands in UV and visible regions. FT-IR spectrum exhibited the characteristic ZnO and other functional groups. Visible light driven photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye in water was used to evaluate the photocatalytic performance of the prepared ZnO nanopowder. © 2019 Author(s)