Synthesis, characterization and photo catalytic studies of the composites by tantalum oxide and zinc oxide nanorods

• In-situ chemical synthesis of ZnO–Ta2O5 composite was achieved in basic medium.
• An attempt made to impregnate the Ta2O5 with ZnO nanorods and its composites.
• The composites were characterized by the FTIR, RAMAN, DRS, XRD, BET, TGA and SEM/EDX.
• The catalytic activity of nanocomposites was studied in the degradation of RhB.
• The photocatalysts were reused and compared the activity with fresh catalyst.

In-situ synthesis of ZnO:Ta2O5 composites in basic medium by using tantalum chloride and zinc chloride as precursors. The prepared composites were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), confocal Raman spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance UV–Vis spectrophotometer (DRS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method, N2-sorption isotherms, Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM/EDS). The composite materials were used as photocatalyst in the degradation Rhodamine-B (RhB) dye under visible light irradiation. The catalytic activity and removal percentage of the dye was determined by the spectrophotometric method. This indicates the percentage of degradation was more for the ZnO:Ta2O5 composites. The kinetic parameter obeys pseudo-first order reaction. It may be due to fixed amount the catalysts and concentration of dye solution. The catalytic activity of the recycled ZnO:Ta2O5 catalyst was compared with fresh catalyst.

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