Synthesis and characterization of zirconia nanorods as a photo catalyst for the degradation of methylene blue dye

t-ZrO$_2$ nano crystalline photocatalyst have been synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method. The crystal structure, morphology, size, and elemental composition of ZrO$_2$ nanorods were determined using XRD, SEM, EDX analysis. The optical properties and photocatalysis were analyzed using UV-Vis spectroscopy. The investigation of XRD pattern indicates tetragonal (t-ZrO$_2$) and monoclinic phases (m-ZrO$_2$) for the annealing temperatures 500 and 900$^\circ$C respectively. SEM images depicts rod like morphology. UV-Vis spectra illustrates that the synthesized samples have wide band gap. t-ZrO$_2$ photocatalyst degrades methylene blue dye with 80% removal efficiency in 180 minutes.