Impact of Concentration on the Hydrothermally Synthesized NiO Nanosheets’ Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

In this research, nickel oxide (NiO) peculiar nanosheets with a thickness of less than 50 nm were produced via a low-cost, one-step, safe hydrothermal process. The reaction was conducted with two concentrations of Ni (NO[Formula: see text]6H2O (0.01 and 0.03) at 120[Formula: see text]C for 3 h. Methylene Blue (MB) dye was used to examine the photoactivity of NiO nanosheet films under sunlight. The prepared NiO nanosheet films were evaluated using XRD, FE-SEM, EDX and UV-visible techniques. Accordingly, (FE-SEM) images confirm that the films synthesized by a hydrothermal method were flower-like nanosheets with a diameter of 33.4-52.7 nm, and the thickness of the NiO film is about 3.629 [Formula: see text]m. The average particle size and crystalline structures were estimated using XRD Analysis. However, both films were then exposed to direct sunshine for 80 min. The respective photocatalytic efficiencies of films were calculated to be 85% and 88%. The effectiveness of the photocatalytic degradation for eliminating Methylene Blue (MB) depends on the concentration, proving that the efficiency can be improved by increasing the concentration.