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Preparation and Characterization of Zinc Oxide Nanoflakes Photocatalyst
for the Photodegradation of Methyl Orange
Norfaizah binti Ajali
Supervisor: Dr. Mohd Hasmizam bin Razali
Bachelor of Science (Chemical Sciences)
School of Fundamental Science
ZnO nanoflakes powder have been successfully synthesized via simple hydrothermal
route using zinc nitrate hexahydrate and urea. The compositions, crystallinity, and
morphology architectures of the ZnO nanoflakes were performed using X-Ray
diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning
electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The ZnO nanoflakes were well-crystalline
with the wurtzite structure through the XRD. For FTIR, a weak and broad absorption
at 3340cm -1 indicates the present of hydroxyl group and a strong absorption that
indicates M-O bonding which is Zn-O bond at 563 cm -1 . The ZnO appeared in flakes
shaped in SEM. The photoactivity of the ZnO nanoflakes were observed by measuring
the degradation of the methyl orange under the ultraviolet lamps. The
photodegradation of methyl orange using ZnO nanoflakes obtained after calcined at
500°C is 69.03%. Meanwhile, ZnO nanoflakes calcined at 700°C shows lower
photodegradation with 54.66%, followed by commercial ZnO (39.23%) and
uncalcined ZnO nanoflakes (12.83%).
431 | U M T U N D E R G R A D U A T E R E S E A R C H D A Y 2018