Rapid photocatalytic degradation of crystal violet dye over ZnO flower nanomaterials

A simple solution method was employed for the direct synthesis of ZnO-flowers using zinc acetate precursor in basic medium and utilized as photocatalyst for the degradation of crystal violet (Cv) dye. Each ZnO-flower was comprised of well-defined petals with the average length of similar to 300 +/- 50 nm. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO-flowers was elucidated towards the degradation of Cv-dye under light illumination. The as-synthesized ZnO-flowers showed very fast degradation of Cv-dye with the degradation rate of similar to 96% within the time interval of 80 min. Mineralization of the dye was extensively described by investigating the mass spectroscopy of the dye before and after the photocatalytic reaction. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.