Synthesis and characterization of novel TiO2-ZnO-CoO nanocomposite photocatalyst for photodegradation of methylene blue dye

Abstract

TiO2-ZnO-CoO nanocomposite photocatalyst has been synthezised using sol-gel method. Titanium (IV) ethoxide, zinc acetate (Zn(CH3COO)2.2H2O) and cobalt acetate (Co(C3COO)2.4H2O) were used as precursors. TiO2 and ZnO posses good photocatalytic ability in photodegradation of water pollutant. The disadvantage and weakness of photocatalytic reaction of TiO2 and ZnO mostly happens at ultraviolet range and less at visible light. This research aimed to decrease the disadventage of TiO2 and ZnO, using cobalt oxide. TiO2-ZnO-CoO nanocomposite photocatalyst was characterized by using SEM-EDS and XRD. SEM analysis showed homogenous and smooth morphology of TiO2-ZnO-CoO nanocomposite photocatalyst. EDS analysis revealed the TiO2-ZnO-CoO nanocomposite photocatalyst had O : Ti : Co : Zn = 32.64 : 37.39 : 11.85 : 18.12. In this study, we expose effect of amount of TiO2-ZnO-CoO nanocomposite photocatalyst, pH, and irradiation time on methylene blue dye photodegradation. Novel TiO2-ZnO-CoO nanocomposite photocatalyst was effective in photodegradation of methylene blue dye.