Characterization and use for the degradation of phenol, of new core-shell mesoporous Si-Sn-Zr oxides synthesized by a surfactant-assisted sol-gel self-combustion method

By using (CTAB) surfactant-assisted sol-gel auto-combustion route, new tertiary Si-Sn-Zr oxide photocatalysts with different portion of silica as a dopant were synthesized. Characterization study was done with the cooperation of XRD, TEM, SEM, EDX, UV-Vis/DR spectroscopy and N-2-adsoprtion-desorption analysis. The obtained data revealed that doping of the prepared catalyst with silica accompanied with the appearance of SnO2, SiO2 and ZrO2 phases, significantly increased the S-BET, led to a preferable textural behaviors with meso-pores structure, the formation of a core-shell like structure, and increasing in the band gap (E-g) values. Additionally, all samples showed photocatalytic activities towards degradation of phenol, however, the sample treated with 0.15 mol % SiO2 showed the highest conversion (88%) at the lowest degradation time compared to previous studies and can be regenerated two times. The kinetic and the mechanism efficiency of the photodegradation process were proposed. [GRAPHICS] .

Automated summary

New tertiary Si-Sn-Zr oxide photocatalysts with different silica doping ratios were synthesized using (CTAB) surfactant-assisted sol-gel auto-combustion route. Characterization study revealed that silica doping increased the specific surface area, mesoporous structure, and band gap values of the catalyst, leading to enhanced photocatalytic activity for phenol degradation.