Novel Ternary Metal Oxide Nanoparticles (La2Cu0.8Zn0.2O4) as Potential Photocatalyst for Visible Light Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue and Desulfurization of Dibenzothiophene

In this work, we present preparation of novel ternary metal oxide nanoparticles, La2Cu0.8Zn0.2O4 (LCZO), using simple co-precipitation method. The crystalline structure, morphology and composition of the prepared LCZO nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, SEM and EDX analysis. The DRS investigation shows the LCZO nanoparticles have considerable light absorption in the visible light region. Also, the LCZO nanoparticles possess the band-gap energy of 2.82 eV. To investigate the visible light photocatalytic potential of the prepared LCZO nanoparticles, two photocatalytic reactions were conducted toward degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution and desulfurization of dibenzothiophene (DBT). In the presence of 3:1 molar ratio of H2O2/DBT, the high photocatalytic desulfurization rate (93.7%) of dibenzothiophene (DBT) was obtained over 0.2 gr of LCZO photocatalyst. In addition, the photocatalytic degradation rate of methylene blue (MB) solution was 91.4%. The mechanism involving both photocatalytic reactions were studied using different radical scavenging agents which showed that the hydroxyl radicals (OH•) are responsible for highly efficient desulfurization and degradation reactions. Moreover, reusability experiments reveal that the prepared LCZO photocatalyst has great stability and recyclability for both desulfurization of DBT and degradation of MB after 6 reaction cycles.