ZnO nanomaterials with activated surfaces towards photocatalytic water purification from dye pollutants

Conventional purification methods for removal from wastewater are inefficient. Therefore, the development approaches of efficient removal of dyes and their residues from wastewaters is a significant challenging task and more efficient approaches are needed to eliminate efficiently those pollutants from water. To date, photocatalytic oxidation process is considered as a promising technology to clean water from the toxic dyes and other pollutants due to the strong capability of hydroxyl radicals to fully decompose contaminants. The aims of the current project are 1) development of highly active photocatalyst via controlled synthesis of ZnO photocatalysts with artificially created surface properties by controlling surface defects and anchoring the functional groups 2) development of photocatalytically active ZnO photocatalyst working under visible light via controlling and creating the surface or lattice defects.