Fabrication of sand/zinc oxide-based nanocomposite via sol-gel immersion method for photocatalysis application
This study aimed to fabricate sand/zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs)-basednanocomposite via sol-gel immersion method with titanium dioxide (TiO2) and graphene oxide(GO)-based materials for methylene blue (MB) dye degradation.The nanocomposite photocatalyst wasinitially fabricated by growing ZnO via so...
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| Format: | thesis |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ir.upsi.edu.my/detailsg.php?det=6743 |
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| Summary: | This study aimed to fabricate sand/zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs)-basednanocomposite via sol-gel immersion method with titanium dioxide (TiO2) and graphene oxide(GO)-based materials for methylene blue (MB) dye degradation.The nanocomposite photocatalyst wasinitially fabricated by growing ZnO via sol-gel immersion followed by synthesizing TiO2using hydrothermal method on the sand as a substrate. Different concentration and synthesis timewere used as parameters for the fabrication. These nanocomposites were then hybridized withGO and GO_multi- walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) hybrid solution via immersion method. Prior tohybridization, the initial GO was synthesized using electrochemical exfoliation method assisted bycommercially available single-tail sodium dodecyl sulphate surfactant and was further mixed withMWCNTs to form GO_MWCNTs hybridsolution. The sand/ZnO, sand/ZnO/TiO2 nanocomposites, and sand/ZnO/TiO2/GO-based photocatalyst materials were then characterized by usingultraviolet (UV)-light irradiation within three-days interval for MB dye degradation,field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), micro-Raman spectroscopy and ultraviolet-visible specstroscopy (UV-vis). The finding, sand/ZnO NRs (4h)presented the highest photocatalysis performance (92.64%) as compared to sand/ZnO/TiO2nanocomposite and and/ZnO/TiO2/GO-based photocatalyst materials. This was due to high density andactives sites presented by sand/ZnO NRs (4h) which lead to higher adsorption of MB molecules on itssurfaces. As for the conclusion, sand/ZnO NRs (4h) demonstrated a potential ability to be appliedas a photocatalyst material to degrade MB solution. The implication of this study is a novel,simpler, low-cost and green approach for the production of sand/ZnO, sand/ZnO/TiO2nanocomposites, and sand/ZnO/TiO2/GO-based photocatalyst materials for photocatalysis application. |
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