Physical and Photocatalytic Properties of CeO2/ZnO/ZnAl2O4 Ternary Nanocomposite Prepared by Co-precipitation Method

Abstract

ZnAl 2 O 4 spinel nanoparticles and CeO 2 /ZnO/ZnAl 2 O 4 ternary nanocomposites were synthesized by a co-precipitation method. The structural, morphological, optical properties and chemical compositions of the products were analyzed respectively by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. The optical band gap of ZnAl 2 O 4 spinel nanoparticles was 3.220 eV. When 1.0 mmol Ce(NO 3) 3 •6H 2 O was added to the synthesis reaction, the optical band gap of the obtained ternary nanocomposite was 3.170 eV. The influence of phase composition, optical band gap, oxygen vacancy and specific surface area on photocatalytic activity over CeO 2 /ZnO/ZnAl 2 O 4 ternary nanocomposites was investigated. The CeO 2 /ZnO/ZnAl 2 O 4 nanocomposite prepared with 1.0 mmol Ce(NO 3) 3 •6H 2 O showed the lowest recombination rate of photoexcited electron-hole pairs, the narrowest optical band gap (3.170 eV) and the highest oxygen vacancy concentration or highest Urbatch energy (0.299 eV). These parameters produced the best photocatalytic activity toward methylene blue (MB) under UV irradiation. The CeO 2 /ZnO/ZnAl 2 O 4 ternary nanocomposites exhibited better photocatalytic performance than pure ZnAl 2 O 4 spinel nanoparticles and 100% degradation of aqueous MB solution was achieved within 60 min when using the CeO 2 /ZnO/ZnAl 2 O 4 ternary nanocomposite photocatalyst synthesized with 1.0 mmol Ce(NO 3) 3 •6H 2 O.

Magnetic Particles Nanorod of ZnO/CuFe2O4 Prepared by Green Synthesized Approach: Structural, Optical and Magnetic Properties, and Photocatalytic Activity

“…Several methods have been applied to remove dyes from the environment, including sedimentation, adsorption, chemical precipitation, and biological processes. However, these methods create new waste problems due to fractional degradation of organic dyes and the production of a large volume of toxic sludge [1][2][3][4] . Thus, to achieve complete degradation of dyes from wastewater, a more effective treatment method is needed.…”

Improvement of the optical and photocatalytic properties of ZnAl2O4: 1% La3+, x% Pb2+ nanoparticles synthesized by citrate sol-gel route

“…disordered) cation distribution [17]. Many synthesis methods preparation of ZnAl2O4 have been reported, such as: hydrothermal [10,18]; citrate [1,19,20], sol-gel [21][22], combustion [13,[23][24][25], pyrolysis [14,26], co-precipitation [15,[27][28][29] and solvothermal [30][31]. While doping ZnAl2O4 was carried out with transition metals or rare earths depending on the intended application [6-7, 14, 32].…”

Fabrication of New Fe3O4/PVA/(C6H7O6Na)n Nanohybrid Ferrogels for Antibacterial Applications

“…The bandgap (E g ) of the Fe 3 O 4 /PVA/(C 6 H 7 O 6 Na) n was calculated using the equation αhυ = A(hυ − E g ) 1/2 , where α, h, υ, and A are the absorption coefficient, Planck's constant, the frequency, and a constant, respectively 31 . The linear part of the curve was extrapolated to the intersection with the energy axis to determine the bandgap 32 . The data analysis is shown in Figure 6.…”