We examined the possibility of finding an alternative to the photocatalyst titanium dioxide for enhancement of ozone generation by electrical discharges. As a rough indicator of the photocatalytic activity of the catalysts, we took the concentration of the ozone produced by the surface dielectric barrier electrical discharge in air. This discharge is, apart from the source of the charged and excited species, also the source of ultraviolet radiation, which could be used for the activation of photocatalysts. From various photocatalysts we have chosen zinc oxide. We compared the effect of ZnO and TiO2 on the enhancement of discharge ozone production and we found that for this application ZnO shows almost the same effect as TiO2 photocatalyst. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.