Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Synthesis of zinc oxide and carbon nanotube composites by CVD method: photocatalytic studies

  • Published:
Journal of Porous Materials Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present work describes the synthesis of multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNT), zinc oxide (ZnO) and their photocatalytic evolutions. Nickel doped fumed SiO2 used as substrate for the synthesis of CNT by in chemical vapour deposition method. In-situ synthesis of ZnO:CNT composites was achieved in alkaline ethanolic medium with zinc chloride and CNT. The prepared composites were investigated by the Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, confocal Raman spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance UV–visible spectrophotometer (DRS), X-ray diffraction, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Brunaur–Emmett–Teller surface area and field emission scanning/transmission electron microscopy. The composites were employed in the degradation methylene blue and Reactive red-198 under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic activity was determined by the spectrophotometric technique. The percentage of degradation was more for ZnO:CNT composites and shows higher capacitance, when compared to that of ZnO and CNTs. The recovered and reused catalysts catalytic activity was compared with that of fresh catalyst.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. A. Janotti, C.G.V. Walle, Fundamentals of zinc oxide as a semiconductor. Rep. Prog. Phys. 72, 126501 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. D. Chen, D. Wang, Q. Ge, G. Ping, M. Fan, L. Qin, L. Bai, C. Lv, K. Shu, Graphene-wrapped ZnO nanospheres as a photocatalyst for high performance photocatalysis. Thin Solid Films 574, 1–9 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. P. Wang, M. Cheng, Z. Zhang, On different photodecomposition behaviors of rhodamine-B on laponite and montmorillonite clay under visible light irradiation. J. Saudi Chem. Soc. 18, 308–316 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. K. Chennakesavulu, G.R. Reddy, Synthesis and characterization of carbonmicrotube/tantalum oxide composites and their photocatalytic activity under visible irradiation. RSC Adv. 5, 56391–56400 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. N.A. Fathy, S.E. Elshafey, O. Eishafey, W.S. Mohamed, Oxidative degradation of RB19 dye by a novel γ-MnO2/MWCNT nanocomposite catalyst with H2O2. J. Environ. Chem. Eng. 1, 858–864 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. K. Chennakesavulu, G.R. Reddy, S.S. Prasath, S. Supriya, S. Sivanesan, Visible light driven photocatalytic degradation of the Reactive red-198, methylene blue and 3- chloro phenol by Nb2O5@ZnO: synthesis and characterization. Adv. Mater. Lett. 6, 518–526 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. G.R. Reddy, K. Chennakesavulu, Synthesis and characterization of Nb2O5 supported Pd(II)@SBA15: catalytic activity towards oxidation of benzhydrol and Rhodamine-B. J. Mol. Struct. 1075, 406–412 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. X. Wang, S. Yao, X. Li, Sol–gel preparation of CNT/ZnO nanocomposite and its photocatalytic property. Chin. J. Chem. 27, 1317–1320 (2009)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. D. Nawn, D. Banerjee, K.K. Chattopadhyay, Zinc oxide nanostructure decorated amorphous carbon nanotubes: an improved field emitter. Diam. Relat. Mater. 34, 50–59 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. S.J. Kim, J.S. Im, P.H. Kang, T. Kim, Y.S. Lee, Photo catalytic activity of CNT-TiO2 nanocomposite in degrading anionic and cationic dyes. Carbon Lett. 9, 294–297 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. I.Y.Y. Bu, Optoelectronic properties of solution synthesis of carbon nanotube/ZnO:al: N nanocomposite and its potential as a photocatalyst. Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 22, 76–82 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. P. Liu, Y. Guo, Q. Xu, F. Wang, Y. Li, K. Shao, Enhanced photocatalytic performance of ZnO/multi-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposites for dye degradation. Ceram. Inter. 40, 5629–5633 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. P.B. Lihitkar, S. Violet, M. Shirolkar, J. Singh, O.N. Srivastava, R.H. Naik, S.K. Kulkarn, Confinement of zinc oxide nanoparticles in ordered mesoporous silica MCM-41. Mater. Chem. Phys. 133, 850–856 (2012)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. J.M.G. Domınguez, P. Castell, S.B. Gascon, A.A. Casaos, A.M.D. Pascual, M.A.G. Fatou, A.M. Benito, W.K. Maser, M.T. Martınez, Covalent functionalization of MWCNTs with poly(p-phenylene sulphide) oligomers: a route to the efficient integration through a chemical approach. J. Mater. Chem. 2, 21285–21297 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. J.Z. Kong, A.D. Li, H.F. Zhai, Y.P. Gong, H. Li, D. Wu, Preparation, characterization of the Ta-doped ZnO nanoparticles and their photocatalytic activity under visible-light illumination. J. Solid State Chem. 182, 2061–2067 (2009)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. S.H. Aboutalebi, A.T. Chidembo, M. Salari, K. Konstantinov, D. Wexler, H.K. Liu, S.X. Dou, Comparison of GO, GO/MWCNTs composite and MWCNTs as potential. Energy Environ. Sci. 4, 1855–1865 (2011)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. K. Chennakesavulu, M.R. Madhusudhana, G.R. Reddy, A.M. Rabel, J. Brijitta, V. Vinita, T. Sasipraba, J. Sreeramulu, Synthesis, characterization and photo catalytic studies of the composites by tantalum oxide and zinc oxide nanorods. J. Mol. Struct. 1091, 49–56 (2015)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. V.L. Kuznetsov, S.N.B. Sirosh, S.I. Moseenkov, A.V. Ishchenko, D.V. Krasnikov, M. Kazakova, A.I. Romanenko, E.N. Tkachev, E.D. Obraztsova, Reinforcement of CVD grown multi-walled carbon nanotubes by high temperature annealing. Physica Status Solidi (B) 251, 2444–2450 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. S.M. Dehaghi, B. Rahmanifar, A.M. Moradi, P.A. Azar, Removal of permethrin pesticide from water by chitosan–zinc oxide nanoparticles composite as an adsorbent. J. Saudi Chem. Soc. 18, 348–355 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. M. Ahmad, E. Ahmed, Z.L. Hong, W. Ahmed, A. Elhissi, N.R. Khalid, Photocatalytic, sonocatalytic and sonophotocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine-B using ZnO/CNTs composites photocatalysts. Ultrason. Sonochem. 21, 761–773 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Y. Cheng, L. Cao, G. He, G. Yao, X. Song, Z. Sun, Preparation, microstructure and photoelectrical properties of tantalum-doped zinc oxide transparent conducting films. J. Alloys Comp. 608, 85–89 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. W. Shen, Z. Li, H. Wang, Y. Liu, Q. Guo, Y. Zhang, Photocatalytic degradation for methylene blue using zinc oxide prepared by co-deposition and sol–gel methods. J. Hazard. Mater. 152, 172–175 (2008)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. J.P. Ribeiro, J.T. Oliveira, A.G. Oliveira, F.W. Sousa, E.F.A. Neto, C.B. Vidal, D. Keukeleire, A.B. Santos, R.F. Nascimento, Treatment of sulfonated azo dye Reactive red-198 by UV/H2O2. J. Chem. Article ID 619815 (2014)

  24. S. Kuriakose, B. Satpati, S. Mohapatra, Enhanced photocatalytic activity of Co doped ZnO, nanodisks, nanorods prepared by a facile wet chemical method. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 16, 12741–12749 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. G.R. Reddy, S. Balasubramanian, K. Chennakesavulu, Zeolite encapsulated Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes with tetradentate N2O2 Schiff base ligand: catalytic activity towards oxidation of benzhydrol and degradation of rhodamine-B. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2, 15598–15610 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. E. Pajootan, M. Arami, M. Rahimdokht, Application of carbon Nanotubes coated electrodes and immobilized TiO2 for dye degradation in a continuous photocatalytic-electro-Fenton process. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 53, 16261–16269 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. G.R. Reddy, S. Balasubramanian, Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic studies of mesoporous silica grafted Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes. RSC Adv. 5, 53979–53987 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. G.R. Reddy, S. Balasubramanian, Synthesis, characterization and catalytic studies by zeolite encapsulated hexaazamacrocyclic complexes of nickel(II) and copper(II). Microporous Mesoporous Mater. 231, 207–215 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The one of the authors M. Madhusudhana Reddy is grateful to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India for the financial support. One of the author KC dedicates this work in fond memory of Col. Dr. Jeppiaar, Founder and Chairman of Sathyabama University, Chennai, India for his continuous support during the experimental work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Sri Krishna Devaraya University, Anantapur, 515 003, India

    M. Madhusudhana Reddy & J. Sreeramulu

  2. Department of Chemistry, Sathyabama University, Jeppiaar Nagar, Chennai, 600 119, India

    G. Ramanjaneya Reddy & K. Chennakesavulu

  3. Centre for Nano Science and Technology, International Research Centre, Sathyabama University, Jeppiaar Nagar, Chennai, 600 119, India

    G. Ramanjaneya Reddy, K. Chennakesavulu, S. S. Prasath & A. M. Rabel

  4. Department of Chemistry, SRM University, Vadapalani, Chennai, 600 026, India

    E. Sundaravadivel

Authors
  1. M. Madhusudhana Reddy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. G. Ramanjaneya Reddy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. K. Chennakesavulu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. E. Sundaravadivel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. S. S. Prasath
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. A. M. Rabel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. J. Sreeramulu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to K. Chennakesavulu or J. Sreeramulu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Madhusudhana Reddy, M., Ramanjaneya Reddy, G., Chennakesavulu, K. et al. Synthesis of zinc oxide and carbon nanotube composites by CVD method: photocatalytic studies. J Porous Mater 24, 149–156 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10934-016-0247-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10934-016-0247-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation