The effect of different molar ratios of ZnO on characterization and photocatalytic activity of TiO2/ZnO nanocomposite

The TiO2/ZnO nanocomposite as a photocatalyst was prepared with different molar ratios of ZnO using the sol–gel method. The structures and properties were recognized with Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The XRD study exhibited that the crystallization behavior of the nanocomposites was associated with the molar ratios of ZnO. The SEM images indicated that with increasing the molar ratio of TiO2/ZnO until 50:10, regular morphology can be seen. It should be of interest for catalytic purposes since it expectantly improves the surface area. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the synthesized nanocomposites was investigated for decolorization of Methylene Blue (MB) in water under UV irradiation in a batch reactor. The results revealed that the photocatalytic activity of nanocomposite with 50:10M ratio of TiO2/ZnO was the best.