CdO-Al2O3 - A composite material with enhanced photocatalytic activity against the degradation of MY dye

The present work aims to synthesize CdO-Al2O3 nanocomposite and to study its visible light activated photo catalytic performance against metanil yellow dye. Precipitation method was employed to synthesize pure CdO, Al2O3 and CdO-Al2O3 nanoparticles. Diffraction peaks related to cubic CdO and monoclinic theta-Al2O3 were observed in the XRD pattern of the composite. XPS spectrum confirmed the presence of Cd, Al and 0 in the composite. Peaks related to Cd-O and O-Al-O bonds were observed from the FTIR spectrum of the composite. Photocatalytic activity confirmed that the CdO-Al2O3 nanocomposite exhibits a maximum degradation efficiency of 82.09% against MY dye which was found to be better than pure CdO and Al2O3 nanoparticles due to the synergistic effect, high surface area and the formation of p-n junction at the interface of CdO and Al2O3. The CdO-Al2O3 composite catalyst synthesized via precipitation method seems to be more stable and definitely it will be a potential candidate in photocatalysis related field.