Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Tarapacá, Avda. General Velásquez 1775, Arica, Chile.
Department of Civil Engineering, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore - 641027, India.
Chemosphere. 2022 Dec;308(Pt 1):136161. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136161. Epub 2022 Aug 24.
In recent times, there has been an inspired research on combining semiconducting metal oxides for improved industrial applications. Significantly, wastewater removal is concerned and the researchers are finding new methodologies for removing azo dyes that possess a high level of carcinogenic effects. In this connection, this work investigates the photocatalytic activity of synthesized TiO/ZnO nanocomposite irradiated under UV and visible light. The application of the work involves the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye solution. Initial work begins with the novel synthesis of TiO/ZnO coupled system by integrated sol-gel and thermal decomposition methods. Then, various characterization techniques brought out the existing properties of the prepared TiO/ZnO catalyst. The X-ray diffraction measurements showed the assorted tetragonal and hexagonal structures. The spherical shape mixed with hexagonal shaped particles were perceived via transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Besides, from photoluminescence spectrum (PL) results, the TiO/ZnO coupled system displayed slowing down of charge recombination, because of the intermediate states that helps in intensifying the photocatalytic activity. The dual absorption bands corresponding to UV region were deep-rooted from UV-vis spectroscopy. Further, the valuable application of the catalyst in removing methylene blue (MB) dye under both UV and visible light was carried out. The catalyst had displayed 90% of degradation within 40 min under UV light conditions. The other hand, visible light illumination of the catalyst provides divergent results as it possess lesser light absorption. Therefore, this catalyst was unable to yield visible light photocatalytic activity. Hence, this captivating research would bring the wastewater treatment progression using UV light.
近年来，人们对将半导体金属氧化物结合起来以提高工业应用的效果进行了大量的研究。值得关注的是，人们正在研究去除偶氮染料的新方法，因为偶氮染料具有很高的致癌作用。在这方面，这项工作研究了在紫外光和可见光照射下合成的 TiO/ZnO 纳米复合材料的光催化活性。这项工作的应用涉及到去除亚甲基蓝（MB）染料溶液。初步工作从通过集成溶胶-凝胶和热分解方法合成 TiO/ZnO 耦合系统开始。然后，各种特性化技术揭示了所制备的 TiO/ZnO 催化剂的现有特性。X 射线衍射测量显示出各种四方和六方结构。通过透射电子显微镜（TEM）观察到球形与六方形状的颗粒混合。此外，从光致发光光谱（PL）结果来看，TiO/ZnO 耦合系统显示出电荷复合的减缓，因为中间状态有助于增强光催化活性。紫外可见光谱显示出与紫外区域对应的双重吸收带。此外，还研究了催化剂在紫外光和可见光下去除亚甲基蓝（MB）染料的有效应用。在紫外光条件下，催化剂在 40 分钟内显示出 90%的降解。另一方面，催化剂在可见光照射下的效果不同，因为它的光吸收较少。因此，这种催化剂无法产生可见光光催化活性。因此，这项引人注目的研究将推动使用紫外光进行废水处理的进展。
