Synthesis of Semiconductor Nanosized Composite Photocatalyst

Abstract

Every day, composites become an important part of modern functional materials not only due to their complex structure, but also unique new properties. Nanoarchitectonics is a new field that concerns the design and transformation of nanostructures into functional materials at the nanoscale level [1-3]. A composite material is a combination of two or more materials that provides better properties than its individual components [4-5].This paper presents the results of the synthesis of the TiO2-ZnO nanocomposite, as well as the experimental results of the study of some of its properties. The method of precipitation using a reducing agent with intermediate precipitation of zinc hydroxides on the surface of industrial titanium (IV) oxide and their subsequent heat treatment was used for the synthesis of TiO2-ZnO (1:3).The obtained SEM image is presented in Fig and shows that the particles of the synthesized TiO2-ZnO composite have the shape of flakes, which are easily agglomerated into aggregates of complex shapes and different sizes. The electronic image also shows that the individual separated particles have the size which is less than 0.1μm (100 nm), i.e. are in the nanometer range.In order to determine the optical band gap, the obtained TiO2-ZnO nanocomposite powder was dispersed in distilled water by ultrasound to form a suspension, for which the absorption spectrum was then taken. The obtained data were calculated using the Kubelkа-Munch formula and constructed the dependence. Іt can be stated from the data presented that the optical band gap of the obtained powder is ~2.4 eV.