Résumé

In this study, eco-friendly and low-cost highly porous ceramic substrates were fabricated
to enhance the performance of photocatalysts. ZnO as a model photocatalyst deposited as thin films
by dip-coating sol-gel method on naturally extracted kaolin clay (90%) and Corn starch (10%)-
made highly porous ceramic substrates prepared as pellet form and sintered at different
temperatures: 1150, 1200, 1250, and 1300 °C. The effect of temperature on the prepared substrates
modified their porosity and the best value obtained was 56% with a specific surface area of 38.80
m2/g for 1150 °C. Structural analysis of the X-ray diffraction spectra revealed a hexagonal wurtzite
structure for ZnO and mullite/cristoballite structures for substrates. Scanning electron microscopy
images confirmed the porosity and uniform formation of ZnO on the substrates. The high porosity
samples resulted in a high reflectance of over 90%, and band gap energies values around 3.11 eV
were verified by UV–VIS spectroscopy. The photocatalytic properties of ZnO thin films on ceramic
substrates were studied by testing the degradation of Orange II dye in an aqueous medium under
UV light irradiation. The highest degradation rate of 92% was obtained for ZnO thin films
deposited on porous substrates treated at 1150 °C. The kinetic study indicated that the
photocatalytic degradation of Orange II correlated with the pseudo-first-order kinetic model.

Information

Item Type:	Journal
Divisions:
ePrint ID:	4821
Date Deposited:	2024-02-02
Further Information:	Google Scholar
URI:	https://www.univ-soukahras.dz/fr/publication/article/4821

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