Effect of Surface Morphology of ZnO Electrodeposited on Photocatalytic Oxidation of Methylene Blue Dye Part I: Analytical Study

Abstract

Photocatalysis of organic compounds by mean to semiconductors depends heavily on its structural and superficial properties. For this reason, the aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of the ratio Zn/O, grain size and grain number of zinc oxide (ZnO) on photocatalysis of methylene blue dye (MB). ZnO deposits were obtained by cathodic electrodeposition technique from an experimental design 23. The three growth variables were voltage, temperature and time of deposition with two different levels for each variable. Our results showed that the crystallographic orientation and morphology of ZnO electrodeposited depend on different combinations of the deposit variables according to the experimental design. We also found that there is an optimum value in the ratio Zn/O, grain size and grain number of ZnO related to the higher degradation of MB.