Photocatalytic Degradation of Carbon Monoxide (CO) Using Bi2O3 Modified TiO2 Photocatalyst
Nusaiba Islam
Nanomaterials Laboratory, Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Islamic University, Kushtia-7003, Bangladesh
Sharmin Jahan Proma
Nanomaterials Laboratory, Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Islamic University, Kushtia-7003, Bangladesh
Ashiqur Rahman *
Nanomaterials Laboratory, Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Islamic University, Kushtia-7003, Bangladesh and Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, School of Engineering, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales 2308, Australia
Ashok Kumar Chakraborty
Nanomaterials Laboratory, Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Islamic University, Kushtia-7003, Bangladesh
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
TiO2 modified Bi2O3 nanoheterojunction was prepared using maleic acid as an organic linker. TiO2 phatocatalyst cannot perform photocatalytic reaction in the visible region. It only can work in the UV light region because of its band gap 3.2 eV. On the other hand Bi2O3 modified TiO2 can perform photo activity in UV as well as visible region because Bi2O3 can absorb photon in the visible light. The Bi2O3/TiO2 nanocomposite was characterized Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography (GC). The as modified composite exhibited high photo oxidation activity under visible region of λ up to 430 nm, whereof the modified photocatalyst can oxidize CO in UV as well as visible light. Because of the development of anti-air pollution technology, our modified nanoheterojunction could be a significant photocatalyst to oxidize pollutants in air to keep the environment clean.
Keywords: Photo oxidation, Bi2O3/TiO2 nanocomposite, carbon monoxide (CO), air pollution