Liquid phase deposition of ZnO film for photoelectrocatalytic degradation of p-nitrophenol

Liquid phase deposition (LPD) technique was developed to prepare zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film with high photoelectrochemical activity. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization showed that the deposited film was composed of many stick microcrystalline structured ZnO. The photoelectrochemical property of LPD film was analyzed by chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) under UV-light excitation. Using the LPD ZnO film as photoanode, the removal of p-nitrophenol (PNP) was studied by photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) oxidation technique. The influencing factors such as initial concentration of PNP, pH and bias potential were systematically investigated. Under optimized conditions, PNP was effectively degraded by photoelectrocatalysis on the LPD ZnO film.