Search

Composites of manganese and nitrogen-codoped zirconium titanate (Mn,N-codoped ZrTiO4) had been synthesized by the sol-gel method as a visible-light responsive photocatalyst for the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB). Synthesis was conducted at 25 °C using titanium(IV) isopropoxide, zirconium oxide, urea, and manganese(II) chloride. Mn,N-codoped ZrTiO4 containing fixed 10% nitrogen dopant (wN/wTi) with various Mn dopant contents (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% wMn/wTi) and calcination temperatures (500, 700, and 900 °C) had been investigated. All of the Mn,N-codoped ZrTiO4 exhibit a band gap within the visible range (2.51 to 2.74 eV). Photodegradation of MB was performed under visible light illumination for 120 min. The highest activity was achieved up to 7.7 µg L−1 min−1, which was obtained from Mn,N-codoped ZrTiO4 calcined at 500 °C containing 6% Mn and 10% N dopants.

Synthesis and characterization of copper-and-nitrogen-codoped zirconium titanate (Cu-N-ZrTiO4) as a photocatalyst for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) have been conducted. The main purpose of this research was to investigate the co-doping effect of copper and nitrogen dopants in ZrTiO4 as a photocatalyst for the photodegradation of MB. Titanium-(IV) tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) was dissolved into ethanol and mixed with aqueous zirconia (ZrO2) suspension containing 10% nitrogen (N) (w/w to Ti) from urea and various amount of copper as dopants. The calcination was performed at temperatures of 500, 700, and 900 °C. The composites were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) mapping, and specular reflectance UV-Visible spectrophotometer (SRUV-Vis). The degradation of 4 mg L−1 MB solution was conducted for various irradiation times. Characterization shows a significant decrease of the ZrTiO4 band gap from 3.09 to 2.65 eV, which was given by the composite with the addition of 4% Cu and calcination of 900 °C. Cu-N-ZrTiO4 composite can degrade MB solution up to 83% after 120 min under the irradiation of visible light.