Synthesis of rod -like ZnO nanostructure: Study of its physical properties and visible -light driven photocatalytic activity

Visible-light driven photocatalytic activity of nanostructured ZnO thin films synthesized by a simple and low cost chemical bath deposition method is presented here. The ZnO nanorods synthesized were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and optical measurement techniques. XRD diffraction patterns of chemically synthesized ZnO thin films shows only the diffraction peaks from hexagonal crystal structure. The FESEM image shows formation of disoriented solid rods with hexagonal cross-section of about 0.38 μm in diameter and 1.7 μm in length. The optical study reveals that the absorption edge for nanostructured ZnO films with rod-like morphology shifts to longer wavelength compared to ZnO films with flower-like morphology, indicating narrow band gap for nanostructured ZnO films with rod-like morphology. The photocatalytic activity of the nanostructured ZnO films with rod-like morphology was found to be better as compared to that of ZnO films with flower-like morphology towards degradation of non-biodegradable IC dye. © 2020 Elsevier GmbH