Photocatalytic activities of CTAB assisted ZrO2, V2O5, and ZrO2-V2O5 composite by precipitation process and their studies on structural, morphological and optical properties

Abstract

Nanocrystalline core/shell structures of cetytrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-assisted ZrO2, V2O5, and ZrO2-V2O5 composite was successfully prepared by co-precipitation method calcined at 500 °C. CTAB-assisted ZrO2, V2O5, and ZrO2-V2O5 composite were characterized by different techniques such as, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Ultra-Violet (UV) and Photoluminescence (PL). The formation of ZrO2, V2O5, and ZrO2-V2O5 composite material has been confirmed by XRD studies. Surface morphology with grain size of CTAB-assisted ZrO2, V2O5, and ZrO2-V2O5 composite was determined by SEM and TEM studies. EDX analysis confirms the presence of compositional elements of ZrO2-V2O5 composites in the lattice such as zirconium, vanadium and oxygen. Optical studies reveal a strong absorption and emission peaks were presented in the UV and visible regions and it useful for optoelectronic device applications. In comparison, ZrO2, V2O5, and ZrO2-V2O5 composite exhibited the higher band gap energies with a significant blue-shift and enhanced UV light absorption compared to bulk counterparts. As-prepared photocatalysts, CTAB-assisted ZrO2, V2O5, and ZrO2-V2O5 composite showed strong photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) dye under UV light irradiation, which can facilitate the efficient separation and migration of photo generated electron-hole pairs. Among result, the ZrO2-V2O5 composite exhibited the synergistic enhanced photocatalytic performance and also the possible photocatalytic mechanism was discussed in detail.