Reduction deposition of Pd nanoparticles on ZnO flowers used for photodegradation of methylene blue and methyl orange under UV light

Abstract

ZnO flowers decorated with Pd nanoparticles on top were synthesized by a reduction deposition method using NaBH4 as a reducing reagent for efficient degradation of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) under UV light irradiation. Pd nanoparticles uniformly anchored on the surface of ZnO petals for improving photocatalytic activities by preventing the recombination of photo-excited electrons–photo-induced holes. Heterostructure Pd/ZnO nanocomposite flowers have photocatalytic activity for degrading of MB and MO solution under UV light irradiation better than pure ZnO flowers. In this research, heterostructure 5% Pd/ZnO flowers have 1.5 and 4.7 times for MB and MO photodegradation over pure ZnO flowers because of the enhanced separation efficiency of electron–hole pairs containing in the heterostructure Pd/ZnO flowers.