title: Preparation of ZnO Photocatalyst for the Efficient and Rapid Photocatalytic Degradation of Azo Dyes.
abstract: Zinc oxide (ZnO) photocatalysts were synthesized by sol-gel method using zinc acetate as precursor for degradation of azo dyes under UV irradiation. The resultant samples were characterized by different techniques, such as XRD, SEM, and EDX. The influence of preparation conditions such as calcination temperature and composite ratio on the degradation of methyl orange (MO) was investigated. ZnO prepared with a composite ratio of 4:1 and calcination temperature of 400 °C exhibited 99.70% removal rate for MO. The effect of operation parameters on the degradation was also studied. Results showed that the removal rate of azo dyes increased with the increased dosage of catalyst and decreased initial concentration of azo dyes and the acidic condition is favorable for degradation. Furthermore, the kinetics and scavengers of the reactive species during the degradation were also investigated. It was found that the degradation of azo dyes fitted the first-order kinetics and superoxide ions were the main species. The proposed photocatalyst can efficiently and rapidly degrade azo dyes; thus, this economical and environment-friendly photocatalyst can be applied to the treatment of wastewater contaminated with synthetic dyes.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering/The Key Lab. for Green Processing of Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaoqing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering/The Key Lab. for Green Processing of Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, People's Republic of China. wuzhans@126.com.
authors.forename: Zhansheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering/The Key Lab. for Green Processing of Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dandan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering/The Key Lab. for Green Processing of Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Bingtuan, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhenzhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
keywords: Azo dyes; Photocatalytic degradation; UV irradiation; ZnO