Synthesis and photocatalysis of ZnO/Fe2O3 nanocomposite in degrading herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid

ZnO/γ-Fe2O3 catalysts were fabricated via a simple precipitation route using zinc acetate and iron acetate as the precursors and ammonia as the precipitant. The resulted nanocatalysts were subjected to heat treatment at 450°C for 2 h. The characteristics of the nanocomposite were investigated by var...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lee, Kian Mun, Abdullah, Abdul Halim, Hussein, Mohd. Zobir, Zainal, Zulkarnain
Format: Article
Published: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2014
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/35570/
http://www.ukm.my/jsm/english_journals/vol43num3_2014/contentsVol43num3_2014.html
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Institution: Universiti Putra Malaysia
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Summary:ZnO/γ-Fe2O3 catalysts were fabricated via a simple precipitation route using zinc acetate and iron acetate as the precursors and ammonia as the precipitant. The resulted nanocatalysts were subjected to heat treatment at 450°C for 2 h. The characteristics of the nanocomposite were investigated by various characterization techniques. The synthesized nanocomposite has an average particle size of 13 nm and a surface area of 17 m2/g. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO/γ-Fe2O3 nanocomposite was evaluated by photodegrading 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) under UV irradiation. The results showed that ZnO/γ-Fe2O3 nanocomposite exhibited enhanced photoactivity compared to pure ZnO with almost 20% increment within 4 h of reaction time. The result indicated the applicability of ZnO/γ-Fe2O3 nanocomposite to be used as photocatalyst in removing organic pollutants in wastewater.