Solar light driven photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants using ZnO nanorods coupled with photosensitive molecules

In this study, nano ZnO photocatalyst with rod like morphology was synthesised using low temperature hydrothermal method. Visible light driven catalytic activity of the synthesised ZnO nanorods was enhanced by incorporating different photosensitive molecules like heteropoly phosphotungstic acid (HPA), fluorescein, perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) and porphyrin and their structural and optical properties were characterized. UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) of the synthesised samples supported that these samples absorb visible light as well as ultra violet light. They exhibit efficient photocatalytic activity under sunlight towards the degradation of common textile waste water pollutants like methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (RhB), eosin yellow (EY) and also for the degradation of endocrine disruptors like resorcinol. Among the different ZnO photocatalysts, PTCDA sensitized ZnO nanorods showed highest photocatalytic activity indicating that PTCDA-ZnO would be very useful for cleaning polluted surface water by solar light driven photocatalysis.