Hydrothermal synthesis and photocatalytic properties of modified and unmodified zinc oxide nanoparticles

摘要

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles have been modified using caprylic acid and n-butylamine asnsurface modifiers through in situ surface modification under mild hydrothermal conditionsn(T5150–250uC; P5autogenous). The surface modification was carried out using different molarnconcentrations of ZnO (1–4M) in the starting materials with an acidic mineraliser like 1 N HCl. Thenresultant products obtained were either hydrophobic or hydrophilic depending upon the surfacenmodifier used. The ZnO nanoparticles synthesised were subjected to a systematic characterisationnusing powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, SEM, ultraviolet–nvisible spectroscopy and photocatalytic degradation studies. The hydrophilic ZnO was used innthe photocatalytic degradation of indigo carmine dye, and it shows 98% efficiency with anresidence time of 4 h.