Characterization and Comparison of WO₃/WO₃-MoO₃ and TiO₂/TiO₂-ZnO Nanostructures for Photoelectrocatalytic Degradation of the Pesticide Imazalil

Abstract

Tungsten oxide (WO3) and zinc oxide (ZnO) are n-type semiconductors with numerous applications in photocatalysis. The objective of this study was to synthesize and characterize different types of nanostructures (WO3, WO3-Mo, TiO2, and TiO2-ZnO) for a comparison of hybrid and pure nanostructures to use them as a photoanodes for photoelectrocatalytic degradation of emerging contaminants. With the aim of comparing the properties of both samples, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and confocal laser-Raman spectroscopy were used to study the morphology, composition, and crystallinity, respectively. Electrochemical impedances, Mott-Schottky, and water splitting measurements were performed to compare the photoelectrochemical properties of photoanodes. Finally, the photoelectrocatalytic degradation of the pesticide Imazalil was carried out with the best optimized nanostructure (TiO2-ZnO).

Keywords

• nanostructures
• hybrid nanostructures
• WO₃
• TiO₂
• water splitting
• emerging contaminants