title: Preparation of N-doped ZnO-loaded halloysite nanotubes catalysts with high solar-light photocatalytic activity.
abstract: N-doped ZnO nanoparticles were successfully assembled into hollow halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) by using the impregnation method. The catalysts based on N-doped ZnO-loaded HNTs nanocomposites (N-doped ZnO/HNTs) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray (TEM-EDX), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX), UV-vis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques. The XRD pattern showed ZnO nanoparticles with hexagonal structure loaded on HNTs. The TEM-EDX analysis indicated ZnO particles with the crystal size of ca.10 nm scattered in hollow structure of HNTs, and furthermore the concentration of N atom in nanocomposites was up to 2.31%. The SEM-EDX verified most of N-ZnO nanoparticles existing in hollow nanotubes of HNTs. Besides containing an obvious ultraviolet absorbance band, the UV-vis spectra of the N-doped ZnO/HNTs catalysts showed an available visible absorbance band by comparing to HNTs and non-doped ZnO/HNTs. The photocatalytic activity of the N-doped ZnO/HNTs catalysts was evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange (MO) solution with the concentration of 20 mg/L under the simulated solar-light irradiation. The result showed that the N-doped ZnO/HNTs catalyst exhibited a desirable solar-light photocatalytic activity.
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, 225002, China E-mail: zlcheng224@126.com.
authors.forename: Zhi-Lin
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, 225002, China E-mail: zlcheng224@126.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D002384:Catalysis; D000077215:Clay; D008027:Light; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D001391:Azo Compounds; C100258:methyl orange; D009584:Nitrogen; D015034:Zinc Oxide; D000077215:Clay