Preparation, Characterization, and Activity of Y2O3-ZnO Complex Oxides for the Photodegradation of 2,4-Dinitrophenol

Tong-Ming Su,Yue-Xiu Jiang,Hong-Bing Ji,Zu-Zeng Qin

doi:10.1155/2014/794057

Abstract

With strong adsorption selectivity and thermal stability, Y2O3was added to ZnO to obtain Y2O3-ZnO complex oxides by a precipitation method. The Y2O3-ZnO complex oxides were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, physisorption analyzer, and terephthalic acid photoluminescence probing techniques and were used for the degradation of 2,4-dinitrophenol. More hydroxyl radicals were generated on the surface of the ZnO after adding moderate Y2O3. The Y2O3-ZnO complex oxides which contained 0.50% Y2O3were proved to be the optimal photocatalyst and achieved a degradation of 81.2% of 2,4-dinitrophenol solution, compared to 57.6% achieved under the same photocatalytic conditions with ZnO alone.

Highlights

With the development of human society, wastewater treatment is attracting more and more attention
The grain size of the Y2O3-ZnO was calculated by the Scherrer equation according to the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the (101) crystals; the results displayed that the grain size of ZnO, 0.25%-Y2O3-ZnO, 0.50%-Y2O3-ZnO, 0.75%-Y2O3ZnO, and 1.00%-Y2O3-ZnO was 56.24, 48.35, 42.62, 42.61, and 40.52 nm, respectively, which indicated that the grain size decreased with the increasing of Y2O3 content
When 0.25% Y2O3 was added to the ZnO, no Y2O3 characteristic diffraction peak was observed, which was due to the low composition of Y2O3 [22]

Summary

Introduction

With the development of human society, wastewater treatment is attracting more and more attention. Phenolics are typical pollutants since these compounds are commonly used in the production of a wide range of industrial products, including dyes, textiles, gunpowder, pesticides, and plastics [1, 2], which has serious toxic effects on many biological resources [3]. Their strong toxicity and stability make it difficult to use traditional methods of biological treatment to degrade phenols [4].

Experimental

Results and Discussion

Conclusions