Enhanced photocatalytic activity of electrochemically synthesized aluminum oxide nanoparticles

• Published in: International journal of minerals, metallurgy and materials Vol. 23; no. 3; pp. 358 - 371
• Main Authors: Pathania, Deepak, Katwal, Rishu, Kaur, Harpreet
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing University of Science and Technology Beijing 01.03.2016; Springer Nature B.V; School of Chemistry, Shoolini University, Solar-173212(H.P.), India%Department of Chemistry, Punjabi University, Patiala-147002(Punjab), India
• Subjects: Adsorption; Aluminum; Aluminum oxide; Catalytic activity; Ceramics; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composites; Corrosion and Coatings; Differential thermal analysis; Electrochemistry; Electrolysis; Electrolytes; Energy dispersive X ray analysis; Fourier transforms; Glass; Infrared analysis; Infrared spectroscopy; Irradiation; Malachite green; Materials Science; Metallic Materials; Nanoparticles; Natural Materials; Photocatalysis; Photodegradation; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thermal analysis; Thermogravimetric analysis; Thin Films; Tribology; X ray analysis; X-ray diffraction; 傅立叶变换红外光谱; 光催化活性; 光催化降解; 电化学合成; 紫外-可见光谱; 纳米粒子; 透射电子显微镜; 铝氧化物; aluminum oxide; nanoparticles; electrochemical preparation; photocatalysis
• ISSN: 1674-4799; 1869-103X
• DOI: 10.1007/s12613-016-1245-9

In this study, aluminum oxide （Al2O3） nanoparticles （NPs） were synthesized via an electrochemical method. The effects of reac- tion parameters such as supporting electrolytes, solvent, current and electrolysis time on the shape and size of the resulting NPs were investi- gated. The Al2O3 NPs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. Moreover, the Al2O3 NPs were explored for photocatalytic degradation of malachite green （MG） dye under sunlight irradiation via two processes： ad- sorption followed by photocatalysis; coupled adsorption and photocatalysis. The coupled process exhibited a higher photodegradation effi- ciency （45%） compared to adsorption followed by photocatalysis （32%）. The obtained kinetic data was well fitted using a pseudo-first-order model for MG degradation.