Photoelectrocatrocatalytic hydrolysis of starch by using sprayed ZnO thin films

Abstract： Thin films of zinc oxide have been deposited onto glass/FTO substrates at optimized 400 ℃ by using a chemical spray pyrolysis technique. Deposited films are characterized for their structural, morphological optical and photocatalytic activity by using XRD, an SEM, a UV-vis spectrophotometer, and a PEC single-cell reactor. Films are polycrystalline and have a hexagonal （wurtzite） crystal structure with c-axis （002） orientation growth perpendicular to the substrate surface. The observed direct band gap is about 3.22 eV for typical films prepared at 400 ℃. The photocatalytic activity of starch with a ZnO photocatalyst has been studied by using a novel photoelectrocatalytic process.