Photochemical Degradation of an Environmental Pollutant by Pure ZnO and MgO Doped ZnO Nanocatalysts

MgO doped ZnO and pure ZnO nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by the sedimentary method. The products were characterized by XRD, TEM, and EDX. XRD patterns showed that the doped nanoparticles had the same crystal structures as the pure ZnO nanoparticles. Pure ZnO nanoparticles had a larger lattice volume than MgO doped ZnO nanoparticles. The photochemical degradation of indole 3- butyric acid as a pollutant in aqueous solutions was investigated by both pure and MgO doped ZnO under UV light irradiation. The effect of different parameters such as indole 3- butyric acid concentration, photocatalyst amount, PH, oxidant concentration on degradation of I-3BA, and optimum condition was obtained.