Synthesis, characterization and investigation photocatalytic degradation of Nitro Phenol with nano ZnO and ZrO2

Authors

• N. Assi ¹
• A. A. Mehrdad Sharif ²
• Q. S. Manuchehri Naeini ³

1. 1Department of Chemistry, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
3. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

ZnO and ZrO₂ photo catalysts were synthesized by sol-gel auto combustion method. The products were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Structural and morphological properties of nano particles were investigated and the average crystalline size of ZnO and ZrO₂ was obtained 44 and 51 nm, respectively. Also, photo catalytic degradation of Nitro phenol from aqueous solution by using nano scale ZnO and ZrO₂ powders under UV-C light irradiation was studied and degradation of Nitro phenol was 98% for ZnO in 40 minutes and 83% in 100 min for ZrO₂.

Keywords

• Degradation
• Nitro phenol
• Photo catalytic
• ZrO2
• Sol-gel auto combustion method
• ZnO