synthesis characterization and photocatalytic activity of doped metal oxide

Abstract

The effluents and waste water produced by various industries, factories and laboratories are harmful to the human health, also lead to various health problems to flora and fauna. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP s) have been developed as an effective waste water treatment method leading to total mineralization of most of the organic pollutants into CO2 and H2O. Oxidation of hazardous substances in water system can lead to decrease in dissolved oxygen level, which is necessary for normal functioning of living organism. Most of the semiconductors have been used as a photocatalyst in removal of organic pollutants present in waste water under Solar light or UV light. Amongst various metal oxide semiconductors, Zinc Oxide is well known multifunctional n-type semiconductor, having wide range of exceptional properties making it potential applicable in LED s, Light emitters, Solar cells and Lasers. Other than these, ZnO shows excellent antibacterial activity and photocatalytic performance in waste water treatment. newlineIn present research study, the attempt has been made to synthesize efficient, cost effective and solar light active i) undoped and Ni, Sr doped ZnO photocatalyst by Mechanochemical, Citrate Gel and Co-precipitation method ii) undoped and Cd, Ni doped ZnO photocatalyst by Mechanochemical, Citrate Gel and Co-precipitation method iii) undoped and Cd, Sr doped ZnO photocatalyst by Mechanochemical, Citrate Gel and Co-precipitation method. The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by using various techniques such as TG-DTA, XRD, FE-SEM, EDX, XPS, PL, FT-IR and UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of these semiconducting materials was examined by the degradation of hazardous and bio-recalcitrant phenol compound. The photodegradation experiments were carried out in UV light using photoreactor and in solar light. The effect of various operating parameters such as dopant concentration, catalyst loading and pH of suspension were studied for investigation of optimum catalyst.