Fabrication and characterization of ZnO quantum dots heterojunction structures for photocatalytic treatment ofpharmaceutical wastewater

In this research, ZnO quantum dots (ZnO QDs), ZnO QDs heterojunction structures containing grapheneoxide (ZnO QDs/GO), and CuO (ZnO QDs/CuO) have been synthesized and characterized by XRD and FESEM/EDSanalyses. The XRD patterns confirmed the formation of the wurtzite structure of ZnO QDs (JCPDS۷۹-۰۲۰۷) and thepresence of CuO nanoparticles (JCPDS۸۹-۵۸۹۵) in the prepared samples. In addition, the XRD patterns verified that nophase change occurred in the wurtzite structure of ZnO QDs during the formation of heterojunction structures. Thesynthesized ZnO QDs and heterojunction structures have been used for the photodegradation of tetracycline (TC)antibiotics in synthetic wastewater under visible light irradiation. As a result, pure ZnO QDs, ZnO QDs/GO, and ZnOQDs/CuO degraded ۱۰۰%,۸۱%, and ۶۰% of TC within ۱۸۰ minutes under visible light.

کلیدواژه ها:

ZnO quantum dots ، Graphene oxide ، CuO nanoparticles ، Photodegradation ، Tetracycline