Visible-light responsive ZnSe-anchored mesoporous TiO2heterostructures for boosted photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI)

Soad Z Alsheheri; Ahmed Shawky; Wejdan T Alsaggaf; Z I Zaki

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/ac6816

Visible-light responsive ZnSe-anchored mesoporous TiO₂heterostructures for boosted photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI)

Nanotechnology. 2022 May 4;33(30). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac6816.

Authors

Soad Z Alsheheri¹, Ahmed Shawky², Wejdan T Alsaggaf¹, Z I Zaki³

Affiliations

¹ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, PO Box 80200, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
² Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology Department, Advanced Materials Institute, Central Metallurgical R&D Institute (CMRDI) PO Box 87 Helwan 11421, Cairo, Egypt.
³ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, PO Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 35439748
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac6816

Abstract

The accumulation of Cr(VI) ions in water can cause serious influences on the environment and human health. This work reports a humble synthesis of ZnSe nanoparticles anchored to the sol-gel prepared TiO₂for visible-light-driven photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) ions. The 7.9 nm ZnSe nanoparticles were attached to TiO₂surfaces at a content of 1.0-4.0 wt% as experiential by TEM investigation. The designed nanocomposite unveiled mesostructured surfaces exhibiting surface areas of 176-210 m²g^-1. The impregnation of ZnSe amended the visible-light absorption of TiO₂due to the bandgap decrease from 3.14 to 2.90 eV. The photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) applying the optimized portion of 3.0 wt% ZnSe/TiO₂was achieved at 177μmol min^-1. This photocatalytic activity is higher than the common Degussa P25 and pristine TiO₂by 20 and 30 times, respectively. The improved performance is signified by the efficient interfacial separation of charge carriers by the introduction of ZnSe. This innovative ZnSe/TiO₂has also shown photocatalytic stability for five consecutive runs.

Keywords: ZnSe; heavy metal ions; heterostructures; mesoporous TiO2; photoreduction; sol-gel synthesis.