title: Studies on the photodegradation of Rhodamine dyes on nanometer-sized zinc oxide.
abstract: The nanometer-sized ZnO was prepared through the sol-gel method. Its average particle diameter, determined by TEM, was 20-30 nm. The specific surface area was determined to be 22 m2 g(-1) by BET. The photodegradation mechanism of Rhodamine dyes on nanometer-sized ZnO was studied by dynamic molecular spectra, and the results showed that the photodegradation of Rhodamine dyes obeyed the rules of a pseudo first-order kinetic reaction. The rate constant k of the degradation of Rhodamine B (RB) and butyl-Rhodamine (BR) were 0.0128 and 0.0154 min(-1), respectively, and the half period t(1/2) were 60 and 52 min, respectively. The photodegradation reaction conditions were optimized. After intermixing with silver, the photodegradation efficiency was greatly improved. A life-span test showed that nanometer-sized ZnO had a long life-span.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Luojia Street, Wuhan 430072, China.
authors.forename: Dezhong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Ruxiu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Zhihong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002384:Catalysis; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000528:radiation effects; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D007700:Kinetics; D049329:Nanostructures; D010777:Photochemistry; D012235:Rhodamines / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D012235:Rhodamines; C029773:rhodamine B; D015034:Zinc Oxide