Solid state dispersion and hydrothermal synthesis, characterization and evaluations of TiO2/ZnO nanostructures for degradation of Rhodamine B

In this study, TiO2/ZnO nanostructures were synthesized by sol-gel solid-state dispersion method and hydrothermal methods for degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). The ZnO weight percentage, calcination temperature and irradiation time were investigated for synthesizing the different catalyst samples. Then, the X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis was performed to characterize the as-prepared catalysts. The experimental design was utilized for photocatalytic degradation of RhB. The effects of operating parameters such as pH, irradiation time, initial RhB concentration and catalyst concentration were investigated through this study. The degradation tests were performed by UV of 24 W. The best degradation performance of 99.28% was obtained. The results of characterization and degradation via two methods of preparation including the; sol-gel and hydrothermal were analyzed and compared. Besides, the optimum conditions for reaching the highest RhB degradation were reported.