Synthesis of ZnTiO₃@TiO₂ Heterostructure Nanomaterial as a Visible light Photocatalyst

Abstract

Here ZnTiO3@TiO2 heterostructure nanomaterial was prepared through a simple sonochemical strategy using TiO2 (P25) with zinc nitrate as a precursor and then calcined the obtained sample at 700 °C in 2h for the photocatalytic degradation of Congo red dye solution. XRD result confirms that the diffraction patterns related to the ZnTiO3 and TiO2 as heterostructure with high purity. SEM confirms that particles are irregular in shape with high agglomeration and HRTEM reveals that ZnTiO3@TiO2 is highly crystalline with a lattice spacing of 0.37 nm. The calculated band gap of as‐synthesized ZnTiO3@TiO2 heterostructure nanomaterial is found to be 3.07 eV. The photocatalytic degradation of as prepared ZnTiO3@TiO2 heterostructure was investigated for the degradation of Congo red dye by varying the effect of catalyst amount and initial dye concentration. The ZnTiO3@TiO2 heterostructure nanomaterial exhibited 96% degradation efficiency of Congo red in 4h under visible light illumination. Moreover, the photodegradation mechanism of Congo red was studied with various scavengers such as EDTA, IPA, and Benzoquinone. Further, the detection of OH radicals during photocatalytic processes was confirmed by luminescence technique using terephthalic acid (TA) as a test molecule.

Synthesis of the ZnTiO3/TiO2 Nanocomposite Supported in Ecuadorian Clays for the Adsorption and Photocatalytic Removal of Methylene Blue Dye

“…The obtained nanomaterial of ZnTiO 3 /TiO 2 heterostructure had high purity and no other crystalline phases were observed for the sample. This results are consistent with those reported by Bhagwat et al, who synthesized ZnTiO 3 @TiO 2 at 700 • C using TiO 2 (P-25) with zinc nitrate as a precursor [28].…”

“…Ti-Zn mixed oxides can act as pigments, photodetectors, dielectric materials, sensors, and light emitting diodes [ 25 ]. Several studies also show their wide use for the photocatalytic decomposition of organic compounds since their band gap has a value of 3.06 eV [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ].…”

DFT Study of Methylene Blue Adsorption on ZnTiO3 and TiO2 Surfaces (101)

“…The crystalline and phase transformation behaviors of ZnTiO 3 have systematically been investigated by various authors regarding several synthesis methods, Ti:Zn precursor molar ratios, and calcination temperatures [29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. Furthermore, the literature agrees that obtaining ZnTiO 3 as a pure phase at a low processing temperature is a challenge in materials chemistry [36][37][38].…”

Novel Semiconductor Cu(C3H3N3S3)3/ZnTiO3/TiO2 for the Photoinactivation of E. coli and S. aureus under Solar Light

“…For a UV-active semiconductor material such as TiO 2 , the rate of bacterial photoinactivation under sunlight is limited, since UV light only makes up a small proportion of the solar spectrum. However, semiconductor coupling and sensitization mediated by metal–organic complexes have proven to be effective methods to improve the quantum efficiency of this oxide and extend its optical adsorption range toward visible light [ 25 , 54 , 71 ]. The results shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6 suggest that the novel photocatalyst Cu-TTC/ZTO/TO showed a significant improvement in bacterial photoinactivation rate compared to the individual components Cu-TTC and ZTO/TO.…”