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Preparation of New Magnetic Nanocatalysts Based on TiO 2 and ZnO and Their Application in Improved Photocatalytic Degradation of Dye Pollutant Under Visible Light
Author(s) -
Nabid Mohammad Reza,
Sedghi Roya,
Gholami Saeede,
Oskooie Hossein Abdi,
Heravi Majid M.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
photochemistry and photobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1751-1097
pISSN - 0031-8655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-1097.2012.01209.x
Subject(s) - photocatalysis , nanocomposite , visible spectrum , methyl orange , materials science , degradation (telecommunications) , chemical engineering , nanoparticle , nanomaterial based catalyst , catalysis , nuclear chemistry , photochemistry , nanotechnology , chemistry , optoelectronics , organic chemistry , telecommunications , computer science , engineering
Abstract Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange ( MO ) as a model of an organic pollution was accomplished with magnetic and porous TiO 2 / ZnO / Fe 3 O 4 / PANI and ZnO / Fe 3 O 4 / PANI nanocomposites under visible light irradiation. The structures of nanocomposites were characterized by various techniques including UV –Vis absorption spectroscopy, XRD , SEM , EDS , BET and TGA . Optical absorption investigations show two λ max at 450 and 590 nm for TiO 2 / ZnO / Fe 3 O 4 / PANI nanocomposites respectively possessing optical band gaps about 2.75 and 2.1 eV smaller than that of the neat TiO 2 and ZnO nanoparticles. Due to these optical absorptions, the nanocomposites can be considered promising candidates as visible light photocatalysts to produce more electron‐hole pairs. The degradation of MO, extremely increased using polymeric photocatalysts and decolorization in the presence of visible light achieved up to 90% in less than 20 min in comparison with the neat nanoparticles (about 10%). All these advantages promise a bright future for these composites as useful photocatalysts. The degradation efficiency of MO using stable nanocomposites was still over 70% after ten times reusing. The highest decolorizing efficiencies were achieved with 0.75 g L −1 of catalyst and 10 mg L −1 of MO at natural pH under visible light irradiation in less than 20 min.