The Solution Combustion Synthesis of ZnO Powder for the Photodegradation of Phenol
Aleksandr P. Amosov,
Vladislav A. Novikov,
Egor M. Kachkin,
Nikita A. Kryukov,
Alexander A. Titov,
Ilya M. Sosnin,
Dmitry L. Merson
Affiliations
Aleksandr P. Amosov
Department of Physical Metallurgy, Powder Metallurgy, Nanomaterials, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy and Transport, Samara State Technical University, Molodogvardeiskaya 244, 443100 Samara, Russia
Vladislav A. Novikov
Department of Physical Metallurgy, Powder Metallurgy, Nanomaterials, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy and Transport, Samara State Technical University, Molodogvardeiskaya 244, 443100 Samara, Russia
Egor M. Kachkin
Department of Physical Metallurgy, Powder Metallurgy, Nanomaterials, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy and Transport, Samara State Technical University, Molodogvardeiskaya 244, 443100 Samara, Russia
Nikita A. Kryukov
Department of Physical Metallurgy, Powder Metallurgy, Nanomaterials, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy and Transport, Samara State Technical University, Molodogvardeiskaya 244, 443100 Samara, Russia
Alexander A. Titov
Department of Physical Metallurgy, Powder Metallurgy, Nanomaterials, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy and Transport, Samara State Technical University, Molodogvardeiskaya 244, 443100 Samara, Russia
Ilya M. Sosnin
Research Institute of Advanced Technologies, Togliatti State University, Belorusskaia 14, 445020 Togliatti, Russia
Dmitry L. Merson
Research Institute of Advanced Technologies, Togliatti State University, Belorusskaia 14, 445020 Togliatti, Russia
Nanoscale and submicron powder of zinc oxide (ZnO) is known as a highly efficient photocatalyst that is promising for solving the problem of wastewater treatment from toxic organic pollutants including phenol and its derivatives. The results of laboratory studies of ZnO preparation by a simple, energy-saving, and highly productive method of solution–combustion synthesis from a mixture of solutions of zinc nitrate and glycine, as well as the use of the ZnO powder synthesized by combustion for the photocatalytic decomposition of phenol, are presented. The modes and characteristics of combustion, phase composition, chemical composition, and structure of the combustion product at different ratios of glycine with zinc nitrate were determined. It is shown that calcination at 650 °C reduces the content of carbon impurity in the combustion product to ~1 wt.% and leads to obtaining ZnO powder in the form of porous agglomerates up to 100 μm in size sintered from crystalline nanoscale and submicron ZnO particles with an average crystallite size of 44 nm. The ZnO powder exhibits high photocatalytic activity, leading to the almost complete degradation of phenol in an aqueous solution under the action of ultraviolet irradiation in less than 4 h.
