A comparative assessment of the UV-photocatalytic activities of ZnO synthesized by different routes

ZnO was synthesized by a precipitation procedure, free of template agent, by mixing aqueous solutions of Zn (OAc)(2) and dissolved Na2CO3 at pH ca. 7. This material was calcined at different temperatures (200-600 degrees C for 2 h). In two other alternative procedures, after the precipitation, the suspension was taken to hydrothermal treatments or to microwave treatments, subjecting them to calcination treatments at the same temperatures as the previous material. All materials were characterized using various techniques. The photocatalytic activity was assessed in the degradation of methyl orange and phenol using UV-illumination and evaluating the corresponding percentages of conversion and mineralization. A minimal difference between the relative intensities of the exposed faces (I100I002) related to XRD for the synthesized samples seems to be an important factor in obtaining good photocatalytic properties. This minimum, was achieved with a calcination treatment at 400 degrees C for 2 h. With this calcination treatment, no significant variations were observed in the photocatalytic activities of ZnO obtained by the three procedures, although in all cases the zinc oxides obtained exhibited, for each substrate, higher UV-photocatalytic activities than those obtained with TiO2 (P25) used as a reference catalyst. In all cases, the samples showed no photocatalytic activity in the visible region of the spectrum.