Characterization and Photoactivity of Cotton Loaded with ZnO NPs

In this work, ZnO NPs were prepared by a simple co-precipitation technique. Cotton fibers loaded with ZnO NPs were prepared also. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-Vis spectrophotometer have been used to characterize the prepared samples. The photocatalytic properties of the cotton loaded with ZnO (C-ZnO) and ZnO NPs, were studied under sunlight irradiation and lamp illumination as a function on time. The results showed that X-ray diffraction of ZnO NPs has a single-phase wurtzite structure with an average particle size of 29 nm. The morphology on the surface of ZnO NPs has a spherical shape. The optical band gap of ZnO nanoparticles was 3.37 eV. The photocatalytic confirms that C-ZnO exhibited higher photocatalytic activities than ZnO NPs.