Facile synthesis of NiO/ZnO nano-composite by Co-precipitation, characterization and photocatalytic study of colored and colorless organic pollutants by solar irradiation

A facile strategy of co-precipitation and ultra-sonication was used for the formation of pristine metal oxides (NiO and ZnO) and NiO/ZnO nanocomposite respectively. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used for the structural, spectral and morphological analysis of as synthesized sample. The band gap value of NiO/ZnO nanocomposite was 1.87eV. The crystalline size of the nano-composite calculated using XRD data is 10.88 nm. Photocatalytic ability of as synthesized samples was examined for the degradation of methylene blue, Rhodamine-B and Benzoic acid. The percentage degradation of methylene blue using NiO, ZnO and NiO/ZnO nanocomposite was 54%, 81.5% and 97.1% while in case of Rhodamine-B and Benzoic acid the degradation efficiency of as synthesized samples was 49.6%, 77% and 88.1% for Rhodamine B and 59.2%, 81.3 and 93.2 for Benzoic acid. This enhanced photo catalytic ability of nanocomposite make it a potential candidate for removal of organic pollutants from waste water.