Abstract
Abstract ZnAl2O4 spinel nanoparticles and CeO2/ZnO/ZnAl2O4 ternary nanocomposites were synthesized by a co-precipitation method. The structural, morphological, optical properties and chemical compositions of the products were analyzed respectively by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. The optical band gap of ZnAl2O4 spinel nanoparticles was 3.220 eV. When 1.0 mmol Ce(NO3)3•6H2O was added to the synthesis reaction, the optical band gap of the obtained ternary nanocomposite was 3.170 eV. The influence of phase composition, optical band gap, oxygen vacancy and specific surface area on photocatalytic activity over CeO2/ZnO/ZnAl2O4 ternary nanocomposites was investigated. The CeO2/ZnO/ZnAl2O4 nanocomposite prepared with 1.0 mmol Ce(NO3)3•6H2O showed the lowest recombination rate of photoexcited electron-hole pairs, the narrowest optical band gap (3.170 eV) and the highest oxygen vacancy concentration or highest Urbatch energy (0.299 eV). These parameters produced the best photocatalytic activity toward methylene blue (MB) under UV irradiation. The CeO2/ZnO/ZnAl2O4 ternary nanocomposites exhibited better photocatalytic performance than pure ZnAl2O4 spinel nanoparticles and 100% degradation of aqueous MB solution was achieved within 60 min when using the CeO2/ZnO/ZnAl2O4 ternary nanocomposite photocatalyst synthesized with 1.0 mmol Ce(NO3)3•6H2O.
Highlights
In recent years, the paper, textile, leather and cosmetic industries have developed rapidly worldwide
The absorption edge of CeO2/zinc oxide (ZnO)/ZnAl2O4 ternary nanocomposites shifted towards longer wavelengths or lower energies compared to the absorption edge of pure ZnAl2O4 spinel nanoparticles
CeO2/ZnO/ZnAl2O4 ternary nanocomposite could promote the transfer of photoexcited electrons via the interfaces of the heterostructure, as occurred in the heterostructure of ZnO/NiO/ZnAl2O413. This transfer of photoexcited electrons contributed to the superior photocatalytic activity of CeO2/ZnO/ZnAl2O4 ternary nanocomposites compared to pure ZnAl2O4 spinel nanoparticles
Summary
The paper, textile, leather and cosmetic industries have developed rapidly worldwide. The elimination of synthetic organic dyes from wastewater is accomplished by biological, coalescence and adsorption methods[1]. AB2O4 spinel oxides, in which A is a divalent metal ion and B is a trivalent metal ion, have gained attention from many research groups[4,26,27,28,29,30,31] This interest has led to their applications in water splitting, gas sensing, transparent conducting materials and photocatalysis. The present work proposes a co-precipitation synthesis of CeO2/ZnO/ZnAl2O4 ternary nanocomposites using KOH solution as the precipitating agent. This process has not, to our knowledge, been reported previously. Photocatalytic activity over the CeO2/ZnO/ZnAl2O4 ternary nanocomposites was characterized to determine its dependence on structural, morphological and optical properties of the photocatalyst
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