Remarkable degradation of methyl orange by tetragonal zirconia catalyst

A t-ZrO2 catalyst was prepared through a simple electrochemical method at a lower calcination temperature which resulted in superior photoactivity toward methyl orange (MO) decolorization. An amount of 0.4 g L-1 of t-ZrO2 catalyst was found to be an optimum dosage for 10 mg L-1 MO, which resulted in a complete decolorization after 1h of contact time at pH 3 under fluorescent light. Good photo-activity toward decolorization of MO promises the t-ZrO2 catalyst to be used in textiles industry wastewater treatment and also other applications. (c) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.