Fabrication of Zirconium oxide- Hydroxyapatite nanocomposite for green preparation of m-phenylenediamine

Pt-ZrO_2-HAP nanocomposites with 3 wt% of Pt and 25 wt % of Hydroxyapatite were synthesized by a sol- gel method to produce a uniform hollow nanospheres. This nanocompoite was then used in the photocatalytic preparation of m-phenylenediamine. Zirconia hollow nanospheres, Pt-ZrO_2 hollow nanospheres, Hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanoparticles were prepared for comparison reasons. Specific surface area values of ZrO_2, Pt-ZrO_2 and Pt-ZrO_2-HAP were 250, 270, 350 m2/g respectively. The photocatalytic performance of the nanocomposites was studied by photo- reduction of m-nitroaniline to m-phenylenediamine under visible light. Pt-ZrO_2-HAP Photocatalyst has the highest photocatalytic performance in the photo-reduction of m-nitroaniline to m- phenylenediamine compared to Zirconia hollow nanospheres and Pt-ZrO_2 hollow nanospheres.