Synthesis of ZnO nanorods modified with TPP, TPPS and Cu-TPPS for photodegradation of MB

In this study, ZnO nanorods have been synthesized by a simple precipitation technique with zinc nitrate as starting material in the presence of ammonium hydroxide followed by calcination at 450 ˚C. Then meso-tetrakis(4-phenyl) porphyrin (TPP), meso-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl) porphyrin (TPPS), and Copper meso-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl) porphyrin (Cu-TPPS) have been immobilized on the ZnO nanorods and the potential of the obtained photocatalysts in degradation of methylene blue dye was studied under UV and visible irradiation. The photocatalysts were characterized by various techniques such as XRD, SEM and FT-IR. The influence of experimental parameters on the dye photodecolorization process was studied. The role of porphyrins as sentisizers was also investigated on decolorization rate. Under these optimum conditions, the obtained decolorization efficiency for MB dye was more than 90% under visible light. The reusability of the intended catalyst was also investigated.