Fabrication of zinc oxide nanorods for photocatalytic degradation of docosane, a petroleum pollutant, under solar light simulator

Abstract

The use of advanced oxidation processes (AOP) in photocatalysis is critical for treating hazardous chemical compounds in oil-produced water (OPW). ZnO NRs are one of the most important modern and safe photocatalysts and have been easily prepared by a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method and grown on glass substrates. Hexagonal-shaped ZnO NRs and a bandgap energy (E_g) of up to 3.2 eV were characterized using SEM, XRD, UV-Vis, and PL devices, respectively. The effectiveness of photocatalytic degradation on the organic docosane solution was evaluated using a solar light simulator. On the surface area of the ZnO NRs, high photon absorption causes e⁻/h⁺ pairs to be excited between the VB and CB, producing free radicals that immediately react with organic contaminants and transform them into harmless chemicals. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the compound docosane analysed using GC-MS/MS reached 68.5% at 5 hours of irradiation. A mechanism for the photocatalytic degradation of docosane was proposed at pH ∼ 6.5, and a reduction of 60.5% of the total organic carbon (TOC) was achieved. Thus, the photocatalytic treatment of organic compounds contained in OPW has great potential and serves an important environmental purpose.