SYNTHESIS OF ZNO DOPED MULTI WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES (MWNTS) FOR DYES DEGRADATION AND WATER PURIFICATION
Р. Н. Абдрашитова, G. S. Bozhenkova, Andrey Ponomarev, Alexandr G. Gilya-Zetinov, Alexandr A. Markov, Michail D. Zavatsky
Abstract
Using the co-precipitation approach, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) doped with ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully synthesized. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS, UV-visible), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to examine the manufactured photocatalysts. Crystal structure, morphology, optical characteristics, optical bandgap, and elemental analysis are all determined by EDX analysis. The photocatalytic activity of the resulting photocatalysts was assessed by observing the breakdown of methyl orange methylene blue (MB) when exposed to UV and visible light. Different degradation behavior was seen for the ZnO-coated MWNTs, indicating that the MBs can fully mineralize through the post-use self-sensitized degradation process of the coated MWNTs. The created photocatalyst can be used for environmental and water cleaning.