Experimental results on photobleaching of Chicago Sky Blue diazo dye solutions using ZnO/ZnAl2O4/Cu photocatalytic nanocomposites are presented. Data on the crystal structure and morphology of these nanocomposites obtained by the polymer-salt method are presented. The results of studies of the kinetics of the processes of photobleaching of dye solutions and its adsorption on the surface of powdered nanocomposites showed that the experimental data correspond to known kinetic models using the first and second order rate equations for these processes.

Photoactive Cu-containing ZnO-ZnAl2O3 nanocomposites were synthesized by the polymer-salt method. To study the structure and properties of materials, the methods of luminescent spectroscopy and X-ray phase analysis were used. It has been shown that the resulting nanocomposites are capable of photogeneration of singlet oxygen under the action of UV and blue light. The synthesized materials consist of nanosized hexagonal ZnO crystals and cubic ZnAl2O4 crystals doped with Cu. The study of luminescent properties showed that nanocomposites can be used as down-converters of light that convert radiation from the UV-C range to UV-A and the visible spectral range.