Pulse laser deposition (PLD) technique for ZnO photocatalyst fabrication

The pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique has been employed to fabricate zinc oxide ZnO thin film for photocatalytic application. Nd:YAG laser, with the wavelength of 1064 nm and energy of 30 mJ was used in our experiments for the ablation process. The thin film was deposited into a glass as the substrate then it was characterized for its structure and optical properties. The ZnO thin film has good morphology with the grain size smaller than 100 nm and hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure. The measured UV absorbance is able to predict its band gap energy, where it was found to be around 3.25 eV. For photocatalytic function, the film was tested to reduce the concentration of Rhodamine B (RdB). During 6 hours exposure under the sunlight, the concentration of RdB has been reduced down to 9% in comparison to its initial concentration indicating the film works as a good photocatalyst. (paper)