Photocatalytic properties of niobia and ceria doped zirconia nanoparticles as water decontaminant for removal of p-nitrophenol

摘要

The present study has investigated the synthesis and characterization of some nanostructured zirconia samples doped with Nb_2O_5 and Ce_2O_3 as impurities. The samples were completely characterized using the X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) techniques. The samples exhibited pure tetragonal phase in both temperature conditions used in this investigation (600 and 900 ℃) which is the most active phase of zirconia in catalytic processes. The photocatalytic activities of the newly synthesized materials were examined toward the 10 ppm solution of p-nitrophenol as a poisonous organic dye. The photodegradation processes were monitored by UV-vis spectroscopy using the maximum wavelength of absorbance spectrum of the p-Nitrophenol at around 320 nm. Using the obtained UV-vis spectra series, the rates of photodegradation were calculated for the samples. Finally, the effects of calcination temperature and amount of dopant on the photocatalytic activity of the zirconia nan-ophotocatalyst were investigated.