Abstract:
Nano sized Cu2O-Ag3PO4-ZnO nanocomposite was prepared by precipitation method using
different salt solution and solid state reaction of the as-synthesized nanocomposite with
natural zeolite to produce zeolite supported Cu2O-Ag3PO4-ZnO fine particles. The structure
of the composites was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The result show that the average
crystalline sizes of unsupported and supported nanocmposite become 46.63nm and 50.85nm
respectively recorded. The rate of decolorization of organic dyes increases as the particle size
decreases. This is because of increase in the specific surface area of a photocatalyst as the
crystalline dimension decrease. Photocatalytic degradation activities of the nanocomposites
under visible light irradiation have been evaluated for a model pollutant methylene blue (MB)
dye solution. Natural zeolite supported Cu2O-Ag3PO4-ZnO nanocomposite photocatalyst
exhibited a relatively higher efficiency on the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) to the
extent of about 88.2%. The present work suggests on the possible use of natural zeiolite as a
support for nanomaterials to enhance the reusability of the photocatalyst material.
