Nano Sized ZnO/MnO2/Gd2O3 Ternary Heterostructures for Enhanced Photocatalysis

Abstract

Background: The cost of effluent treatment is not affordable by small scale industries especially in developing countries. Hence the effluent is discharged without treatment into water bodies. The dyes do not degrade easily and possess a major concern to be addressed. The aquatic life is highly affected and also leads to bio magnification of the chemicals through the food chain. Objective: To synthesize a ternary hybrid structure for enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light. It is intended to reduce toxicity caused by dyeing units. Methods: Synthesized nanomaterials are characterized and used as photocatlyst for the degradation of methylene blue. In degradation experiment known weight of catalyst was added to known volume of an aqueous solution of dye at various concentrations. The solutions are aerated in dark for about 30 min. At the time of irradiation of light, known aliquot of the aqueous mixture was collected at an interval of constant time each from the reaction solution. The catalyst in the mixture was separated by centrifuging the mixture and absorbance was measured. The % of degradation of the dye can be determined knowing initial and final dye concentration. Result: Heterostructures are characterized with analytical tools such as X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Band gap of photocatlyst is calculated by application of UV-Vis spectroscopy. Morphology is seen using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Distribution of constituent structures is observed with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. The structures are used for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye solution under UV and visible light irradiation. Heterostructures showed best performance under visible light. Conclusion: The ternary hybrid nanostructure ZnO-MnO2-Gd2O3 was effectively prepared by a simple solution combustion method. The ternary compound shows wide range of absorption by expanding absorption band both in UV and visible regions. Structures showed better catalytic property under visible light.