Microwave Assisted Synthesis, Characterization of Flower like ZnO - TiO2 Nano Composites for the Removal of Congo Red Dye

In this work we synthesized flower like ZnO/TiO2 nanocomposite by chemical precipitation method using microwave irradiation. The ZnO nanoparticle was decorated by TiO2 nanoparticle. The structure and morphology of the resulting particles were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDAX, TEM, FsT-IR UV-Visible analysis. The X-ray analysis confirms the co-existence of anatase and rutile TiO2 phases with hexagonal wurzite ZnO phase. The scanning electron microscopy reveals that the TiO2 located on the surface of the ZnO flowers. The similarities in photo degradation mechanism, ZnO and TiO2 have comparable band gap energy, and have very good reputation as photo catalysts. The nanoparticles have large surface area and thus provide a large number of active sites for interaction among the particles of different oxides. To achieve, ZnO/TiO2 nanocomposite having particle size, strictly, in the nano domain, was synthesised. The as prepared flower like ZnO/TiO2 sample showed excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Congo red under direct exposure to sun light.