Photocatalytic Degradation of the Nanocomposite Film Comprising Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and Sonochemically Synthesized Iron-Doped Zinc Oxide: A Comparative Study of Performances Between Sunlight and UV Radiation

Abstract

Photocatalytic degradation of a composite film made of PVC and Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles under both UV and sunlight have been accomplished and compared. The metal-doped semiconductor nanoparticles were previously synthesized using ultrasound. The nanoparticles had average crystal size of 33.67 nm and a bandgap of 2.69 eV. Catalysts loading were varied. Composite film with 0.033 g Fe-ZnO per g PVC was found to be the optimum with respect to degradation and mechanical properties. Degradation was monitored by loss in weight. Under sunlight 12% degradation could be achieved with the composite film in 210 min whereas under UV light the degradation was 10%. For pure PVC film, the corresponding degradations were 4.2 and 4.84% respectively. A plausible mechanism has been suggested and validated with experimental results which fitted the proposed model satisfactorily.