Mechanochemical and microwave treatment of precipitated zirconium dioxide and study of its physical\u2013chemical, thermal and photocatalytic properties

Karolina Kucio,Volodymyr Sydorchuk,Svitlana Khalameida,Barbara Charmas

doi:10.1007/s10973-020-10285-x

Karolina Kucio, Volodymyr Sydorchuk + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-10285-x

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Abstract

The effects of the microwave treatment (MWT) and mechanochemical treatment (MChT) on the structure and physicochemical properties of precipitated zirconium oxide were investigated. The obtained materials were characterized using the N2 adsorption/desorption, thermogravimetry (TG, DTG, DTA), XRD and UV–Vis/DRS methods. Photocatalytic properties of the samples were also studied as regards the rhodamine B (RhB) degradation in the aqueous solution. The results show that the microwave and MChT, differing in mill rotation speed, temperature or treatment media, causes significant changes in the porous structure of the obtained samples. In most samples, the specific surface area increase was observed. The DTA and XRD results showed the formation of crystalline structure during MWT. As follows from the investigations, each way of modification results in the shift of the absorption edge toward higher wavelength values and causes photocatalytic degradation of RhB under UV irradiation and makes the obtained materials effective photocatalysts in the visible region.

Highlights

The analysis of the literature data shows that oxides with different characteristics and improved photocatalytic and adsorption properties can be obtained by varying the treatment conditions
A more open, namely meso-macroporous structure is formed in both cases
The specific surface area increases by 25% when gels are subjected to microwave treatment (MWT) and more than twice when gels are milled

Summary

Introduction

As this oxide can be obtained in a highly dispersed state (as non-porous and porous powders or porous xerogels), it is widely applied as the catalysts, the adsorbent or the support for catalysts [1,2,3,4]. As well hydrothermal conditions are satisfied during the mechanochemical treatment (MChT) in water [16, 17]. The efficiency of MWT and MChT application for regulation of physical–chemical properties of other semiconductor oxides was demonstrated in the studies [20, 23,24,25,26]. The analysis of the literature data shows that oxides with different characteristics and improved photocatalytic and adsorption properties can be obtained by varying the treatment conditions

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