CLUSTERED ZnO NANOPARTICLES SYNTHESIZED VIA PRECIPITATION FOR PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF METHYL ORANGE AND GLYPHOSATE

Abstract

Precipitation of clustered ZnO nanoparticles was performed from low-cost starting materials. Morphological and particle size analyses show the cluster formation accumulating with nanoparticles. Chemical composition detection refers the ZnO formation. Hexagonal wurtzite structures are confirmed with low crystal size, high dislocation density, and spherical growth. Optical band gap shows red shift affecting to low required activating energy for photocatalytic activity. Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange and glyphosate presents degradation rate constants of 3.28×10-3 min-1 and 2.45×10-3 min-1, respectively, which is caused by the synergy of small particle size, small crystal size, high dislocation density, and low optical band gap. Therefore, clustered ZnO nanoparticles were demonstrated as a potential photocatalytic material for the decomposition of methyl orange and glyphosate.