Investigation of the effect of morphology on the photocatalytic activity of zinc oxide nanoparticles

Nowadays, environmental pollution has become a major threat to human life. Due to urban developments, population growth and growing industries, it is necessary to control environmental pollution. Pesticides, fertilizers, dyes, pigments, etc. Excessive use of toxic substances and their improper treatment and discharge into water bodies are the main reasons for the pollution of natural water resources. Since the biodegradation of these pollutants is either very slow or traditional methods are often ineffective, a serious ecological problem is faced if the damage to the environment cannot be prevented. In general, there are various processes for the removal of pollutants in both water and air. Heterogeneous photocatalysis, one of the advanced oxidation processes, is used as a successful method in the analysis of pollutants. Photocatalytic purification of organic pollutants in industrial wastewater through semiconductor oxides is seen as a great potential in controlling environmental pollution due to its unique and excellent physicochemical properties. The optical and electronic properties of ZnO particles can be modulated by changing their size and morphology. This material is used in various fields such as electronics, catalysts and optical devices; It has various applications in surface acoustic wave filters, photonic crystals, photocatalysis, photodetectors, light emitting diodes, gas sensors, optical modulator waveguides, solar cells, transistor, piezoelectric generator and photocatalyst. In order to enlarge the ZnO reaction area used in such areas, the particle structure must be reduced. Zinc oxide nanoparticles are needed to break down organic compounds and dyestuffs, especially in textile-based wastewater. For this purpose, it is necessary to investigate the efficiency of zinc oxide nanoparticles in various morphologies produced. In this study, the reaction was carried out by exposing ethanol to UV light with a zinc oxide nanoparticle catalyst. The effect of the morphology of the zinc oxide nanoparticle catalyst on the distribution of the products formed as a result of this reaction was investigated. In the established experimental system, the processes were carried out at room temperature using a feb tube with high UV light transmittance as the reactor. Thus, by increasing the surface area in the reaction, reactor production costs and energy costs spent on heating during production were reduced. While it is aimed to reduce the carbon footprint of the chemicals produced today with the green transformation effect at the production stage, in our study we aimed to reduce environmental pollution while trying to reduce production inputs.