Synthesis, characterization, and morphological control of ZnTiO3 nanoparticles through sol-gel processes and its photocatalyst application

• ZnTiO3 nanocrystals were synthesized by sol-gel method.
• Shape of obtained sample was controlled by reaction temperature and time, sort of solvent and pH.
• Benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid as the newest stabilizers agent for synthesizing of special structure.
• Effects of different parameters on purity, size and morphology were investigated.

In this work, ZnTiO3 ceramics have been synthesized from the reaction of zinc acetate (Zn(CH3COO)2·2H2O), tetrabutyl titanate (Ti(OC4H9)4) as precursors and ethanol as the solvent, in the presence benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid as a novel chelating agent by sol-gel method. The effect of various parameters such as reaction temperature, pH effect, effect of molar ratio of benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid to tetrabutyl titanate on morphology, size and purity of products was investigated. The as-prepared products were characterized by various analyses such as: X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning and transmittance electron microscopy (SEM, TEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), UV-vis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) technique. The photocatalytic degradation was investigated using methyl orange (MO) under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. Application of this product as photocatalyst was investigated through degradation of methyl orange (MO) under UV irradiation and percentage of degradation obtained about 70% after 60 min.

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