5% Barium doped zinc oxide semiconductor nanoparticles for the photocatalytic degradation of Linezolid: synthesis and characterisation

Undoped zinc oxide nano-particles (ZONPs) and 5% (mole ratio) barium doped zinc oxide nano-particles (BZONPs) were synthesized by chemical precipitation method. These semiconducting materials were used for the photocatalytic degradation of antibacterial drug Linezolid (LNZ) for the pH ranging from 4.0 to 8.0. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns show that the intensity of peak is slightly stronger in ZONPs than in 5% (mole ratio) BZONPs. The calculated average grain size using Scherrer equation for ZONPs and 5% (mole ratio) BZONPs are found to be 35.08 (+/- 3) nm and 24.39 (+/- 2) nm respectively. Scanning Electron Microscopy images show that both semiconductor materials are uniform and homogeneous with closely aggregate oval in shape. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) of 5% (mole ratio) BZONPs shows that the mass percentage of zinc is 71.2, oxygen is 23.9 and barium is 4.78. The influences of different parameters on the photocatalytic degradation of LNZ were investigated thoroughly. The rate of photocatalytic degradation of LNZ was increased first from 0.05 to 0.1 g/L dosage of photocatalyst but after that the rate decreases with increase of dosage of photocatalyst.The kinetic data reveals that there was initial increase in the rate of reaction with increase in the [LNZ]. The effect of pH indicates that there is increase in the rate of reaction from pH 4.0 to 8.0.The rate of degree of mineralization of LNZ is found higher at the higher light intensities of UV lamp.