Colloidal ZnO-Prepared Using Ethanol as Solvent in Its Future Application to Produce ZnO-SiO₂ Nanoparticles Using Electrospray Method

ZnO nanoparticles gathered so much attention from researchers in the past few years due to their advantages in many fields, such as photocatalytic activity and medicine. However, producing ZnO nanoparticles has still been challenging due to its natural agglomeration behavior. One of the methods that can be used is electrospray. This method offers a low evaporation temperature and produces a high-yield material. Regarding the process used, electrospray, several parameters must be considered; one essential thing is the colloidal precursor solution. The high stability of ZnO colloids made from zinc acetate dihydrate dispersed in ethanol as a solvent is rarely discussed. The ZnO-colloid was prepared using distillation equipment and lithium hydroxide as the source of alkali. The effects of operation parameters (sonication time) and alkali concentration added in producing the ZnO colloid were investigated in this study. ZnO Colloid with a good stability agreement comes with 0.1 M zinc acetate dihydrate (ZnAc) concentration and 0.14 M lithium hydroxide ratios, which has a zeta potential of -14.4 mV and 0.324 mS/cm conductivity.