Fabrication of meso-porous BiOI sensitized zirconia nanoparticles with enhanced photocatalytic activity under simulated solar light irradiation

K. Vignesh, A. Suganthi, Bong Ki Min, Misook Kang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this present work, BiOI sensitized zirconia (BiOI-ZrO 2 ) nanoparticles were fabricated using a precipitation-deposition method. The physicochemical characteristics of BiOI/ZrO 2 were studied through X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), BET-surface area, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis-DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy techniques. The absorption maximum of ZrO 2 was shifted to the visible region after sensitization with BiOI. BET-surface area results inferred that the prepared hetero-junctions were meso-porous in nature. The photocatalytic activity of BiOI-ZrO 2 for the degradation of methyl violet (MV) dye under simulated solar light irradiation was investigated in detail. 3% BiOI-ZrO 2 exhibited the highest photocatalytic performance (98% of MV degradation) when compared with ZrO 2 and BiOI. The enhancement in the photocatalytic activity of BiOI-ZrO 2 is ascribed to the sensitization effect of BiOI, suppression of electron-hole recombination and the formation of p-n hetero-junction.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)652-661
Number of pages10
JournalApplied Surface Science
Volume324
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • BiOI
  • Methyl violet
  • Photocatalysis
  • Solar light
  • ZrO

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