Photocatalytic degradation of C.I. Acid Orange 52 in the presence of Zn-doped TiO2 prepared by a stearic acid gel method

Zn-doped TiO2 nanocrystals were prepared using a stearic acid gel method and were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. When the nanocrystals were used for the photodegradation of methyl orange in water under UV irradiation, it was found that the 0.1 at% Zn-doped TiO2 nanocrystalline catalyst exhibited greater photodegradation than TiO2 nanocrystals which had been prepared using a sol–gel method as well as the international reference material, P25 titania. This was rationalized in terms of the role of the Zn dopant in the TiO2 nanocrystals and BET surface area. Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) analysis confirmed that the dye was completely degraded after 30 min using the 0.1% Zn-doped TiO2 nanocrystals.