Microwave assisted combustion synthesis of coupled ZnO–ZrO2 nanoparticles and their role in the photocatalytic degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol

Zinc oxide (ZnO), zirconium oxide (ZrO2) and their coupled oxides in the molar ratio 1:1, 2:1 and 1:2 (labeled as ZnZr, Zn2Zr, and ZnZr2 respectively) were successfully prepared by a microwave assisted urea–nitrate combustion synthesis. The structure and morphology of the pure ZnO, ZrO2 and coupled ZnZr, Zn2Zr, and ZnZr2 were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) methods. The results of the photocatalytic degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) in aqueous solution indicated that the coupled metal oxide, Zn2Zr is more effective towards the degradation of 2,4-DCP when compared to ZnO, ZrO2, ZnZr and ZnZr2.