Zinc Oxide NPs as Solar Photo-Catalysis for Water Disinfection

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have been revealed to be a photocatalytic prospect owing to the truth that they are cost-effective. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) are commonly utilized in sunscreens as inorganic physical sun blockers. However, ZnO is more operative in UVA (315-400 nm) range and TiO2 in the UVB (280-315 nm) range. The combination of these particles assures a broad-band UV protection. However, to solve the cosmetic drawback of these opaque sunscreens, microsized TiO2 and ZnO have been increasingly replaced by TiO2 and ZnO NPs. In many cases ZnO NPs can be counted as an effective replacement of TiO2 NPs, however, the former has a lower cost. This review is firstly focusing on the photo-degradation procedures using ZnO NPs. Secondly, there are numerous methods that have been used to enhance the photo-response of zinc oxide nano-structures. Additionally, with the high efficiency of the photocatalytic response of ZnO NPs, it has been shown that it can be obtained with the appropriate choice of the required nanostructures regarding the synthesis technique and also the correct photocatalytic system. ZnO NPs is a vital material for numerous industrial usages. ZnO has been found to be effective in various strains of microorganisms, and numerous research articles on this area are evidence of its potential as antimicrobial agent.