The photocatalytic activity of eco-friendly zinc oxide doped silica nanocomposites, synthesized via a co-precipitation method followed by heat-treatment at 300, 600, and 900 °C is investigated. The samples have been characterized by employing X-ray diffraction method, and further analyzed using the Rietveld Refinement method. The samples show a space group P63mc with hexagonal structure. The prepared composites are tested for their photocatalytic activities for the degradation of methyl orange-based water pollutants under ultra-violet (UV) irradiation using a 125 W mercury lamp. A systematic analysis of parameters such as the irradiation time, pH value, annealing temperatures, and the concentration of sodium hydroxide impacting the degradation of the methyl orange (MO) is carried out using UV-visible spectroscopy. The ZnO.SiO2 nanocomposite annealed at 300 °C at a pH value of seven shows a maximum photo-degradation ability (~98.1%) towards methyl orange, while the photo-degradation ability of ZnO.SiO2 nanocomposites decreases with annealing temperature (i.e., for 600 and 900 °C) due to the aspect ratio. Moreover, it is seen that with increment in the concentration of the NaOH (i.e., from 1 to 3 g), the photo-degradation of the dye component is enhanced from 20.9 to 53.8%, whereas a reverse trend of degradation ability is observed for higher concentrations.

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Nanopowder of iron cyanide hydrate (member of Prussian blue family) was obtained using ferric chloride and potassium cyanide in their dilute solution through co-precipitation method. The effect of thermal annealing on iron cyanide hydrate nanocrystallites have been studied in detail. The formation of Fe4[Fe(CN)6]3·14H2O and iron oxides was revealed by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The crystal structure, morphology and size of nanocrystallites were investigated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope. Results suggest that using co-precipitation technique, nanopowder of iron cyanide hydrate, in typically spherical shape, can be obtained and their thermal treatment also yield iron oxide nanocrystallites of spherical with good homogeneity. The size of the prepared nanocrystallites was found in the range 20-36 nm. It was observed that thermal treatment, typically at 800• C (4 h), iron cyanide hydrate (Fe4[Fe(CN)6]3·14H2O) nanocrystallites transformed into iron oxide (α-Fe2O3, hematite) nanocrystallites.