2. Experimental
Zinc acetate dihydrate (Rankem) and mercury acetate used in the
present study were of analytical reagent grade. Methylene blue (MB)
and methyl orange (MO) were purchased from Aldrich chemicals. All
aqueous solutions were prepared using double distilled water.
The decomposition temperature of hydrates and acetates were confirmed
by thermo gravimetric analysis before the synthesis process. The
thermogravimetric results of zinc acetate dihydrate indicate the formation
of a small amount of ZnO alongwith a total weight loss of 68%. ZnO
nanorods were synthesized by grinding 3.0 g of zinc acetate dihydrate
in a mortar for 3 h followed by annealing it in an alumina crucible at
300 °C, which is similar to the synthesis procedure elsewhere [31]. To