Colloidal oxide nanoparticles for the photocatalytic degradation of organic dye

In this work, easily processable and highly crystalline ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles, with a narrow size distribution, obtained by using novel non-hydrolytic synthetic approaches were both tested for the photocatalyzed degradation of an organic dye, methyl red (2-(4-Dimethylamino-phenylazo)-benzoic acid)-C.I. 13020) and their behaviour comparatively examined with respect to TiO2 and ZnO commercial powders. The experiments were carried out using semiconducting oxides under UV and visible light illumination. Preliminary studies on the influence of various experimental factors as pH and dye concentration were performed. The obtained results demonstrated a high photocatalytic efficiency of nanosized semiconducting particles. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.