ZnO nanoparticles supported on mesoporous MCM-41 and SBA-15: a comparative physicochemical and photocatalytic study

A simple solvothermal impregnation method was used to prepare ZnO nanoparticles supported on MCM-41 and SBA-15. X-ray powder diffraction, N-2 adsorption-desorption, Electron Probe Micro Analysis (EPMA), and UV-vis spectroscopy were used to characterize the prepared materials. The influence of the ZnO loading of different supports on the structural characteristics and the photocatalytic activity toward degradation of methylene blue in water under ultraviolet irradiation were investigated. Wide angle X-ray diffraction and UV-vis Diffuse Reflectance confirmed the existence of ZnO phase. A much smaller influence of impregnation with ethanolic zinc salt solution on the porosity was observed for SBA-15 compared with MCM-41. Finally, the adsorption and photocatalytic activity of the ZnO/mesoporous materials depend on porous characteristics of the support materials.