Bimetallic Bi/Zn decorated hydrothermally synthesized TiO2 for efficient photocatalytic degradation of nitrobenzene

Semiconductor photocatalyst TiO2 was synthesized by hydrothermal method, followed by Bi/Zn mono and bimetallic nanoparticles decorated through wet impregnation. Metal doping resulted a shift in spectral response to visible light, with highest shift of 0.08 eV in BZHT4 (0.25:0.75 w/w). Photocatalytic performances of synthesized catalysts were compared for the degradation of 50 ppm nitrobenzene (NB) under UV and solar light irradiations. Enhanced photocatalytic activity was observed with the metal doping due to the synergistic effects between the metals and TiO2. Highest degradation of 90% with a rate constant of 8.8 × 10−3 min−1 was observed with BZHT4 in UV light.