Preparation of Mixed Semiconductors for Methyl Orange Degradation

• Main Authors: Sangeeta Adhikari, Debasish Sarkar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2015-01-01
• Series: Journal of Nanomaterials
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/269019

Attempts were made to compare the photocatalytic efficacy in between quasi-fiber and near spherical commercial grade ZnO through the addition of monoclinic WO3 nanocuboid. Mixed oxide semiconductors were assessed for their dye degradation performance under irradiation of visible light energy. Surface area and the particle morphology pattern have an influence on the resultant photocatalytic features of these mixed oxide composites. The high porous quasi-fibrous ZnO was successfully fabricated by a simple solution combustion method. It is deliberately made of clusters of primary near spherical particles that supports WO3 nanocuboid embedment and shows interactive characteristics in comparison to the counterpart commercial near spherical ZnO combined with WO3. The photocatalytic activity significantly increases up to 95% under visible radiation for 90 min due to high surface area imparted by unique quasi-fiber morphology. The photogenerated electron-hole pair interaction mechanism has been proposed to support the photocatalytic behavior.