Sunlight active composite photocatalyst for water purification

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016207030-A1
Application number	US-201514599358-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 16, 2015
Priority date	Jan 16, 2015
Publication date	Jul 21, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

The sunlight active composite photocatalyst for water purification includes ZnO (zinc oxide) and Co 3 O 4 (cobalt II, III oxide). The composite photocatalyst may, in the presence of natural sunlight, achieve complete mineralization of chemical and biological contaminants in water without leaving any hazardous by-products. The composite photocatalyst may be synthesized by a sol gel route or process.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A sunlight active composite photocatalyst for water purification, comprising:
ZnO (zinc oxide); and Co 3 O 4 (cobalt II, III oxide) dispersed on the surface of the ZnO.

2 . A method for producing a sunlight active composite photocatalyst for water purification, comprising the steps of:
synthesizing ZnO; forming a ZnO—Co—(OH) 2 co-gel by mixing the ZnO with Co 2+ solution; heating the ZnO—Co—(OH) 2 co-gel to form a slurry; drying the slurry to form a powder; and calcining the powder.

3 . The method for producing a sunlight active composite photocatalyst according to claim 2 , further comprising the steps of:
dissolving zinc acetate in deionized water to form a solution; hydrolyzing the solution with KOH to form a hydrated ZnO gel; heating the gel at 250° C. for 2 his; drying the gel to form ZnO powder; and calcining the ZnO powder.

4 . The method for producing a sunlight active composite photocatalyst according to claim 2 , further comprising the step of heating the ZnO—Co—(OH) 2 co-gel to a temperature of about 250° C.

5 . The method for producing a sunlight active composite photocatalyst according to claim 2 , wherein the slurry is dried in a hot air oven at a temperature of about 100° C.

6 . A method for purifying water, comprising the step of submerging a photocatalyst in water, the photocatalyst being a composite having:
ZnO (zinc oxide); and Co 3 O 4 (cobalt II, III oxide) dispersed on the surface of the ZnO.

Assignees

• Univ King Abdulaziz

Inventors

• Muhammad Abdul Hameed Fateh
• Inayatullah Mohammad Aslam
• Ismail Iqbal M I
• Chandrasekaran Sivaraman

Classifications

• B01J2235/30

  Scanning electron microscopy; Transmission electron microscopy · CPC title

• B01J2235/15

  X-ray diffraction · CPC title

• B01J2235/10

  Infrared [IR] · CPC title

• B01J2235/00

  Indexing scheme associated with group B01J35/00, related to the analysis techniques used to determine the catalysts form or properties · CPC title

• B01J37/0072

  Preparation of particles, e.g. dispersion of droplets in an oil bath · CPC title