Mn<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>@ZnO Hybrid Material: An Excellent Photocatalyst for the Degradation of Synthetic Dyes including Methylene Blue, Methyl Orange and Malachite Green
Benazir Shaikh,
Muhammad Ali Bhatti,
Aqeel Ahmed Shah,
Aneela Tahira,
Abdul Karim Shah,
Azam Usto,
Umair Aftab,
Sarah I. Bukhari,
Sultan Alshehri,
Syed Nizam Uddin Shah Bukhari,
Matteo Tonezzer,
Brigitte Vigolo,
Zaffar Hussain Ibhupoto
Affiliations
Benazir Shaikh
Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Sindh, Jamshoro 76080, Pakistan
Muhammad Ali Bhatti
Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Sindh, Jamshoro 76080, Pakistan
Aqeel Ahmed Shah
Wet Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Metallurgical Engineering, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi 75270, Pakistan
Aneela Tahira
Dr. M.A Kazi Institute of Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro 76080, Pakistan
Abdul Karim Shah
Department of Chemical Engineering, Dawood University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi 74800, Pakistan
Azam Usto
Department of Chemical Engineering, Dawood University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi 74800, Pakistan
Umair Aftab
Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro 7680, Pakistan
Sarah I. Bukhari
Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Sultan Alshehri
Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Syed Nizam Uddin Shah Bukhari
State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Process and Technology for Materials, School of Material Science, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Matteo Tonezzer
IMEM-CNR, Sede di Trento-FBK, Via alla Cascata 56/C, 38123 Trento, Italy
Brigitte Vigolo
Institut Jean Lamour, Université de Lorraine, CNRS, IJL, F-54000 Nancy, France
Zaffar Hussain Ibhupoto
Dr. M.A Kazi Institute of Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro 76080, Pakistan
In this study, we synthesized hybrid systems based on manganese oxide@zinc oxide (Mn3O4@ZnO), using sol gel and hydrothermal methods. The hybrid materials exhibited hierarchical morphologies and structures characterized by the hexagonal phase of ZnO and the tetragonal phase of Mn3O4. The hybrid materials were tested for degradation of methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO), and malachite green (MG) under ultraviolet (UV) light illumination. The aim of this work was to observe the effect of various amounts of Mn3O4 in enhancing the photocatalytic properties of ZnO-based hybrid structures towards the degradation of MB, MO and MG. The ZnO photocatalyst showed better performance with an increasing amount of Mn3O4, and the degradation efficiency for the hybrid material containing the maximum amount of Mn3O4 was found to be 94.59%, 89.99%, and 97.40% for MB, MO and MG, respectively. The improvement in the performance of hybrid materials can be attributed to the high charge separation rate of electron-hole pairs, the co-catalytic role, the large number of catalytic sites, and the synergy for the production of high quantities of oxidizing radicals. The performance obtained from the various Mn3O4@ZnO hybrid materials suggest that Mn3O4 can be considered an effective co-catalyst for a wide range of photocatalytic materials such as titanium dioxide, tin oxide, and carbon-based materials, in developing practical hybrid photocatalysts for the degradation of dyes and for wastewater treatment.
