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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Sol-gel synthesis and photocatalytic activity of ZnO-SnO2 nanocomposites
Noomen MoussaAbdessalem HamrouniAbdessalem HamrouniAmmar HouasAmmar HouasFrancesco ParrinoLeonardo PalmisanoAgatino Di Paolasubject
Diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transformChemistryScanning electron microscopeProcess Chemistry and TechnologyAnalytical chemistryHeterojunctionCatalysisZnO-SnO2 nanocompositePhotocatalysiX-ray photoelectron spectroscopyHeterojunction effectSpecific surface areaPhotocatalysisPhotocatalysis; ZnO-SnO2 nanocomposites; Sol-gel method; Heterojunction effectSettore CHIM/07 - Fondamenti Chimici Delle TecnologiePhysical and Theoretical ChemistrySpectroscopySol-gel methodSol-geldescription
Abstract ZnO–SnO 2 nanocomposites were synthesized by a facile sol–gel synthesis route and characterized through X-ray diffraction, BET specific surface area analysis, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was tested using the degradation of 4-nitrophenol under UV light as model reaction. The ZnO/SnO 2 molar ratio was varied in order to study its influence on the photoefficiency of the samples. The ZnO–SnO 2 nanocomposites showed higher photoactivity than the pure oxides and in particular the sample with ZnO/SnO 2 molar ratio equal to 1/0.05 resulted the best one among the tested powders. The high activity of the mixed samples was attributed to the presence of heterojunctions between the two oxides, which allows an improved charge separation of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs, due to the differences between the energy levels of the conduction and valence bands of ZnO and SnO 2 . Photovoltage measurements were performed to determine the energy band structure of the ZnO–SnO 2 heterojunction.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-08-01 |