Formation of nanogranular ZnO ultrathin films and estimation of their performance for photocatalytic degradation of amoxicillin antibiotic

Highlights: • A modified sol–gel process with addition of ammonium acetate to form ZnO nanograins. • ZnO very thin layers with particular nano-granular morphology. • Opportunity to form mono-layers of separated nano-grains. • Correlated effects observed on morphology and dielectric function. • Efficient photo-degradation of amoxicillin antibiotic. - Abstract: Very thin nanogranular zinc oxide layers have been grown using sol–gel synthesis modified by incorporating ammonium acetate with varying content. Ammonium acetate has multiple correlated effects such as thickness reduction from 70 to 20 nm; grains size reduction from 50 nm to 25 nm; and morphology evolution from a dense stacking of grains to a single layer of grains. The potential application to photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceutical materials has been evaluated by carrying out the degradation of amoxicillin antibiotic under UV irradiation. The particular nanogranular morphology of the layers positively impacts the photodegradation efficiency.