Photodegradation of phenol red in a compound of type ZnO2Cr core/shell

Abstract

Surface properties core/shell nanoparticles have been investigated in recent years due to their promising reactivity in catalysis surface. In this work, the ZnO2Cr core/shell nanoparticles were synthesized by Modified Pechini method and characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The structural parameters were evaluated as a function of chromium coatings on the ZnO structure, using the Rietveld method. From the refinement of experimental diffractogram determined the crystallographic structure of the investigated system as being of the hexagonal type with space group P63mc. The coating of ZnO with chrome led to an increase of the structural parameters. Photocatalytic activity of ZnO2Cr nanoparticles was studied using a low power reactor and the phenol red dye in acid and basic medium. The nanoparticles showed level of degradation in acid medium 1.24 times higher than that in basic medium. The photodegradation follows a first order kinetics.