Enhanced solar light driven photocatalytic degradation of organic dye using solution combustion synthesized CeO2-ZnO nanocomposites

Manimozhi, R. and Ranjith Kumar, D. and Gnana Prakash, A. P. (2018) Enhanced solar light driven photocatalytic degradation of organic dye using solution combustion synthesized CeO2-ZnO nanocomposites. Journal of Electronic Materials, 47 (11). pp. 6716-6721. ISSN 1543-186X

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-018-6649-z

Abstract

CeO2 and CeO2-ZnO nanocomposites were synthesized by the solution combustion method. Cerium/Zinc nitrates and sucrose were used as an oxidizer and fuel, respectively. Structural, morphological and optical properties were studied using x-ray diffraction (XRD), a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and ultra violet–visible absorption spectroscopy. XRD results show that the prepared CeO2 has cubic structure, whereas the CeO2-ZnO composite has both cubic and hexagonal structure. The particle size was found to decrease from 11 nm to 7 nm on increasing the fraction of ZnO in CeO2-ZnO nanocomposites. Optical characterisation showed that the band gap of pristine CeO2 and CeO2-ZnO nanocomposites red shifted from 3.02 eV to 2.91 eV. FESEM analysis revealed porous-like morphology of CeO2-ZnO nanocomposites. Pristine CeO2 and CeO2-ZnO nanocomposites with ratios of 1:0.33, 1:0.5 and 1:1 were evaluated for their photocatalytic activity against the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under solar light for 90 min. The degradation efficiency was 51.1% for pristine CeO2 and CeO2-ZnO (1:1) shows more degradation efficiency (99.9%), when compared to other ratios. Photocatalytic degradation efficiency was increased with increase in ZnO concentration in nanocomposites. This is due to reduced bandgap and less recombination of photo-generated charge carriers.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: D Physical Science > Physics
Divisions: Department of > Physics
Depositing User: Manjula P Library Assistant
Date Deposited: 04 Jul 2019 08:08
Last Modified: 04 Jul 2019 08:08
URI: http://eprints.uni-mysore.ac.in/id/eprint/4596

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