Optimizing Photodegradation of Azo Dyes with Hydrothermal Synthesized ZnO Nanostructured Thin Films

Nanostructured ZnO thin films have been fabricated on the bared glass substrate using a simple, cost-effective, and uncovered hydrothermal method. It is observed that nanorods, nanotubes, nano-flux, hexagonal, and wurtzite structures have been grown uniformly. These thin films have been utilized as a photocatalyst to degrade azoic dyes from wastewater. This work aims to enhance the degradation rate without using a seed layer. The performance of photodegradation was observed by varying the molarity of zinc nitrate from 30 mM to 70 mM, keeping hexamethylene tetraamine (HMTA) constant at 50 mM. The maximum photodegradation efficiency was found for the thin film which was produced using 30 mM of Zn(NO3)2.6H2O. The efficiency was about 67.32%. The various properties of ZnO films fabricated at different concentrations of Zn(NO3)2.6H2O have been associated with the photodegradation performances of azoic dyes prepared by these ZnO films.