The development of the routes for synthesizing photocatalysts and the methods for investigating their properties is very appealing for applications in ecology and renewable energy production. Zinc oxide is one of the promising photocatalytic materials. In this study, ZnO nanopowders are produced by pulsed laser ablation (Nd:YAG laser, 1064 nm, 7 ns) in water and air, followed by their heat treatment. The structure and composition of the resulting powders are examined using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry. The nature of the defect states of nanoparticles is investigated using fluorescence spectroscopy. Their photocatalytic activity is tested during photodegradation of Rhodamine B under excitation by the broadband visible and UV-visible light. The influence of the composition and morphology of zinc oxide and the nature of defect states on its photocatalytic activity is discussed.

中文翻译：

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激光烧蚀法制备氧化锌纳米粒子在罗丹明 B 分解反应中的光催化活性

光催化剂合成路线及其性能研究方法的开发对于生态学和可再生能源生产的应用非常有吸引力。氧化锌是一种很有前景的光催化材料。在这项研究中，ZnO 纳米粉末是通过脉冲激光烧蚀（Nd:YAG 激光，1064 nm，7 ns）在水和空气中产生的，然后进行热处理。使用透射电子显微镜、X 射线衍射和差示扫描量热法检查所得粉末的结构和组成。使用荧光光谱研究纳米颗粒缺陷态的性质。在宽带可见光和紫外可见光的激发下，在罗丹明 B 的光降解过程中测试了它们的光催化活性。