Facile synthesis of zirconia supported nanomaterials for efficient photocatalytic applications

Abstract

The recent study enlightens the synthesis and characterization of zirconia (ZrO 2 ), Fe-doped ZrO 2 (Fe@ZrO 2 ), and Ni-doped ZrO 2 (Ni@ZrO 2 ) catalysts having new-fangled morphology with tuned band gap as photocatalysts for degradation of textile wastewater dyes methylene blue (MB), malachite green (MG), and their mixtures. SEM imaging of Fe@ZrO 2 and Ni@ZrO 2 is interestingly varied from ZrO 2 as well as doping of transition metals greatly affects the morphology of composites. The optimization study depicts that the pH, time (min) and catalyst amount (g) have a direct relation with degradation efficiency, while the dye concentration (mg/L) has an indirect relation as well. The photocatalytic studies depict that the degradation of MB and MG follows oxidation pathway via hydroxyl radicals (OH • ) and holes. Reusability of catalysts corresponds to a little decrease in degradation efficiency in the first two cycles and decreases to about $10% (Ni@ZrO 2 ) and $12% (Fe@ZrO 2 ) in next three cycles.

Treatment of Automotive Paint Wastewater: Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue using semi-conductive ZrO2

“…Most of them are also non-biodegradable [5]. It is known that the use of photocatalysis process, which is one of the advanced oxidation processes with advantages such as environmental friendliness and minimal energy consumption, is more promising for the removal of organic pollutants than traditional alternatives such as adsorption [5,8,9]. Basically, photocatalysis can be explained as the process of using a catalyst is used to accelerate degradation reactions through the action of UV or visible light.…”

“…Today, nanostructured zirconia (ZrO2), one of the most industrially important transition metal oxides, is used as a catalyst due to its excellent chemical and physical properties such as thermal stability, electrical properties, optical properties, chemical inertness and non-toxicity, as well as its high ion exchange capacity and redox activity [13][14][15]. This material has a wide band gap, which allows for structural modifications that can directly enhance catalytic activity through the presence of oxygen vacancies on the catalytic surface [8]. Owing to these properties, ZrO2 is also widely used in many fields such as the automotive industry, electrical applications, construction, agriculture and energy.…”

Metal–organic frameworks for energy storage applications: Recent advances

“…Due to their small size, batteries are the most efficient form of EES [13]. There are many porous materials owing to greater surface area reported in the literature for different applications [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. The Metal--Organic Framework (MOF) is the best platform for intriguing advanced electrodes because of its high surface area, porosity, diverse structure, versatile functionalities, flexibility, and more accessible modifications [24], as MOFs are formed by combining metal nodes and organic linkers [25].…”