Synthesis, characterization of Mn, Fe doped ZrO2 composites and its applications on photocatalytic and solar catalytic studies

Abstract The photocatalytic degradation of Alizarin red S (AS) by nano zirconia-manganese (Zr/Mn) and Zirconia-iron (Zr/Fe) oxide composite catalyst is performed. The nano particles are synthesized by co-precipitation method and characterized with SEM-EDX, XRD and FTIR studies. The synthesized nanoparticles is applied for dye removal and the effect of various operating variables like pH, concentration of dyes, amount of catalyst and time also observed on the efficiency of the catalyst. The degradation of the organic dyes has been calculated and it follows pseudo-first order kinetics. Solar catalytic studies showed that the synthesized catalysts are suitable for removal of textile dyes under visible light. The synthesized materials of Mn/ZrO2 and Fe/ZrO2 with 1:1 ratio, 30 ppm of dye concentration, 0.1 g of catalyst showed 99% of colour removal efficiency in presence of UV light. Similarly, in presence of solar rays, the synthesized materials showed 95% colour removal efficiency.