Rapid synthesis and immobilization of ZnO nanorods on metal meshes and its application for organic dye removal

Abstract

Immobilizing photocatalysts onto supporting substrates presents a versatile and practical solution to overcome technical challenges associated with utilizing photocatalysts in their powder form. By depositing photocatalysts onto substrates, such as kanthal mesh, the need for particle separation and recovery during wastewater treatment processes is effectively circumvented. In this study, we focused on synthesizing zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures on metal mesh using the direct heating (DH) approach. This approach presents several benefits when relative to common fabrication methods such as hydrothermal and chemical vapor deposition, allowing for exceptionally rapid synthesis (completed in just 5 min) with minimal usage of electrical power. The formation of ZnO nanorods on supporting mesh was corroborated by FE-SEM, XRD, EDX, HR-TEM and XPS analyses. Notably, ZnO nanorods supported on kanthal meshes exhibited photocatalytic ability in degrading RhB dye under UV light, demonstrating their efficacy in dye removal. Overall, the facile DH approach for growing ZnO nanorods on kanthal mesh shows great potential for the mass production of photocatalyst modules tailored to be applied for wastewater treatment.