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New insight into sequential of silica-zirconia precursors in stabilizing silica-doped tetragonal zirconia nanoparticles for enhanced photoactivity

Hassan, N. S. and Jalil, A. A. and Aziz, F. F. A. and Aziz, M. A. H. and Hussain, I. and Aliab, M. W. (2021) New insight into sequential of silica-zirconia precursors in stabilizing silica-doped tetragonal zirconia nanoparticles for enhanced photoactivity. Materials Letters, 291 . p. 129582. ISSN 0167-577X

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2021.129582

Abstract

Silica-doped tetragonal zirconia nanoparticles (SiO2-ZrO2) catalysts were synthesized with the addition of ZrO2 prior to SiO2 by the microwave-assisted method and compared with a different sequence of ZrO2 and SiO2 (ZrO2-SiO2). The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared, electron spin resonance, ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and photoluminescence analyses. The catalyst phase was pure tetragonal ZrO2 (t-ZrO2) with nano in size (9–10 nm). The sequential of SiO2 and ZrO2 precursors significantly affected the catalyst framework and led to a different number of pore volume and defect sites, including oxygen vacancies (OV), metal defects site (MDS) and Si-O-Zr bonds, which altered their behaviour towards t-ZrO2 stabilization and applications. It was found that the synergistic effect between nanocrystals and the appropriate amount of defect sites influenced the stabilization of t-ZrO2. The catalytic activity towards photodegradation of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) are in the following order: SiO2-ZrO2 (92%) > ZrO2-SiO2 (59%) > ZrO2 (50%) > SiO2 (20%). The highest photoactivity of SiO2-ZrO2 is due to the large pore volume, which offered good surface contact with light. Besides, the higher crystallinity, Si-O-Zr bonds, and OV and MDS also could contribute to the excellent performance in 2-CP degradation. The abovementioned properties provided good electron-hole pair mobility and electron trapping for enhanced photoactivity.

Item Type:Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:Defect sites, Nanocrystal
Subjects:T Technology > TP Chemical technology
Divisions:Chemical and Energy Engineering
ID Code:95115
Deposited By: Widya Wahid
Deposited On:29 Apr 2022 22:24
Last Modified:29 Apr 2022 22:24

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