The influence of the UV irradiation intensity on photocatalytic activity of ZnAl layered double hydroxides and derived mixed oxides

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have been studied to a great extent as environmental-friendly complex materials that can be used as photocatalysts or photocatalyst supports. ZnAl layered double hydroxides and their derived mixed oxides were chosen for the investigation of photocatalytic performances in correlation with the UV intensities measured in the South Pannonia region. Low supersaturation coprecipitation method was used for the ZnAl LDH synthesis. For the characterization of LDH and thermal treated samples powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), nitrogen adsorption-desorption were used. The decomposition of azodye, methylene blue was chosen as photocatalytic test reaction. The study showed that the ZnAl mixed oxide obtained by thermal decomposition of ZnAl LDH has stable activity in the broader UV light irradiation range characterizing the selected region. Photocatalytic activity could be mainly attributed to the ZnO phase, detected both in LDH and thermally treated samples. The study showed that the ZnAl mixed oxide obtained by the calcination of ZnAl LDH has a stable activity within the measured UV light irradiation range; whereas the parent ZnAl LDH catalyst did not perform satisfactory when low UV irradiation intensity is implied