Improvement in TiO2 photocatalytic performance by ZrO2 nanocompositing and immobilizing

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In this work, the effect of addition of ZrO2 to TiO2 and catalyst geometry on photocatalytic properties of the nanocomposite TiO2/ZrO2 was investigated. The traditional use of powdery photocatalyst for the degradation of organic compounds has post-treatment problems which means much higher time and costs. A novel method to minimize these problems is immobilization by insertion onto an inert substrate. Several geometries of TiO2–10%ZrO2 (T-10Z) nano-photocatalysts (powder, fiber, film, and network-shaped) were produced using different templates. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, and diffuse reflectance UV–vis spectra. Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange in water was examined using TiO2/ZrO2 composites and T-10Z geometries under UV irradiation. The T-10Z with a band gap of 3.10 eV showed higher degradation than the other composites. The degradation rate of the four geometries produced was in the following order: powder > network > film > fiber. The rate constant of the dye degradation reaction when contacting with powdery and network composites were 0.019 and 0.013 min−1, respectively. Network geometry with lower kinetic effects was preferred due to its indisputably higher immobility.