Platinum-decorated zirconia: an efficient photocatalyst for degradation of Orange G textile dye

Removal of pollutants and textile dyes from water bodies has become an essential requirement for a safe environment. These dyes are stable and difficult to breakdown, so efficient photocatalyst with suitable band gape is needed. In this context nanoparticles (NPs) have promising applications and are potential candidates to help in removal of environmental pollution. In this study ZrO 2 NPs were coupled with Pt to enhance the photocatalytic activity of ZrO 2 in the degradation of textile Orange G dye. These synthesized materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-Rays (EDX), X-Ray diffractometry (XRD) and UV–visible spectrophotometry. The SEM analysis shows that ZrO 2 NPs have diverse triangular shapes and some are round with sharp edges and Pt is uniformly distributed on Zirconia surface. The EDX analysis shows that the catalyst is composed of platinum supported by zirconium oxide Pt/ZrO 2 in the ratio of 27, 60 and 3% by weight respectively. The XRD analysis confirms the characteristics peaks of Zirconium oxide and platinum at 28.1°, 31.45° and 46.8°, 67.5° respectively. The Pt/ZrO 2 NPs were utilized for the degradation of Orange G dye. Different conditions e.g. study time, effect of pH, temperature, concentration, catalytic dosage, stirring time were also studied. At optimized conditions the dye removal was 94% which shows that Pt/ZrO 2 as efficient heterogeneous catalyst. The kinetic data of orange-G degradation can be best described by 1st order and improved Freundlich models as suggested by linear correlation coefficient R 2 values of 0.9980 and 0.9850. The excellent fit is likely the correct kinetc model for photocatalytic study.The highest correlation coefficient indicating that photodegradation occurs through first-order kinetics.