Hydrothermal synthesis, characterization and light harvesting applications of zinc oxide nanostructures

چکیده مقاله

In this manuscript, nanostructured ZnO mate- rials have been successfully prepared via a new ammonia- assisted hydrothermal method at 70 C with the aid of Zn(NO3)24H2O as a single precursor in the absence of any capping agents. The effect of the initial concentrations of Zn2? and ammonia on the morphology and particle size of as-synthesized ZnO was investigated. The as-prepared ZnO nanostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction patterns, electron diffraction X-ray, Fourier transformation infrared, and photoluminescence spectroscopies, and scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, the photo- catalysis results reveal that the maximum decolorization of 26.2 and 44.1 % for rhodamine-B and methylene blue occurred with ZnO samples in 120 min under ultraviolet light irradiation, respectively. Moreover, the as-synthesized ZnO nanostructures were utilized as photo-anode material for the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells.