Synthesis nanocompsite TiO2-ZrO2 for photocatalic degration of phenol and methylene blue (MB)

Abstract

A series of TiO₂-ZrO₂ binary oxide samples with various TiO₂-ZrO₂ content (90-10, 80-20, 70-30, 60-40, 50-50 mol %)  were prepared by the co-precipitation method. The obtained samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, UV-vis, IR spectroscopy and BET. XRD data identified the anatase phase of the TiO₂ and tetragonal, monoclinic phases of ZrO₂ in all obtained samples. The average crystallite size of the samples was between 16 to 21 nm. As UV-Vis spectra, the band gaps of TiO₂-ZrO₂ composites vary from 2,5 eV to 3,1 eV. The photocatalytic reactions confirmed that the nanocomposite sample showed higher photocatalytic activity than the pure oxides samples for the degradation of phenol and methylene blue (MB) under 100 W incandescent lamp. Among the prepared samples, the best sample for photocatalytic degration of MB is the ĐKT9-1 which contains 90% TiO₂ and 10% ZrO₂ with a percentage 95% after 180 minutes. The ĐKT8-2 which contains 80% TiO₂ and 20% ZrO₂ shows the best phenol removal efficiency of  97% after 30 minutes. This indicates that the materials are capable of treating MB and phenol in wastewater.