Effect of curing time on morphology and photocatalytic activity of zinc oxide nanostructures prepared in egg white medium

The use of metal oxide nanostructures as an active material in the photocatalytic process is one of the proposed solutions for the treatment of drinking water and industrial wastewater. In this study, as an inexpensive metal oxide, zinc oxide nanorods were synthesized using a simple sol-gel method in egg white medium. Samples were prepared at an optimum temperature of 600 ° C for two periods of 3 and 5 hours to investigate the structural and morphological changes caused by the change in curing time. The samples were characterized by XRD, FESEM, UV-vis, PL measurements. The use of egg white medium caused the control of particle morphology and the production of structural oxygen vacancy defects which were confirmed by FESEM and PL tests, respectively. The photocatalyst test using methylene blue dye also confirmed the positive effect of one-dimensional morphology of nanostructures and the production of structural defects on increasing the photocatalytic efficiency of zinc oxide nanorods, which can be a good option for use in the manufacture of solar water filters and wastewater treatment.