TiO2/ZnO nanocomposite photocatalyst: Synthesis, characterization and their application for degradation of humic acid from aqueous solution

Abstract

In this study, TiO2/ZnO nanocomposite (TZC) photocatalysts were successfully prepared through a sol-gel process followed by calcination. TZC photocatalyst characterization was performed by XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The photocatalytic activity of the TZC photocatalyst is studied systematically by the degradation of humic acid (HA) from aqueous solutions under visible light irradiation. Photodegradation of HA from aqueous solutions shows excellent photocatalytic activity. The rate of photocatalytic degradation increases with increasing catalyst loading and light intensity. From kinetic studies, it showed that HA photodegradation using TZC photocatalysts can be explained by the pseudo-firstorder kinetic model. The results also show that this method has excellent potential to remove HA from peat water.

Keywords

• humic acid
• photocatalytic degradation
• nanocomposite
• tio2/zno
• photocatalyst