Espinélios Zn2SnO4-Zn2TiO4 obtidos pelo método Pechini modificado, aplicados na descoloração de azo corante

Abstract

Zinc stannate (Zn2SnO4) and zinc titanate (Zn2TiO4) are inverse spineltype oxides and stand out due to their optical, electrical, magnetic, semiconductor and photocatalytic properties. In this work, the two materials were combined in order to obtain a solid solution, Zn2Sn1-xTixO4 (x= 0; 0.25; 0.50; 0.75; 1.0), using the modified-Pechini method, in order to evaluate the influence of the Sn4+ ions substitution by Ti4+ ones in the spinel lattice for application as catalysts in the photodiscoloration of the golden yellow remazol. Catalysts were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Raman spectroscopy and surface area measurements (BET). XRD results showed that the materials presented a high long range order when heat treated at 700 °C, using zinc acetate and pH = 1. IR and Raman spectra confirmed the presence of the [TiO6] and [SnO6] octahedra and (ZnO4) tetrahedron. The parameters used in the dye discoloration were: catalyst mass and irradiation times. The results showed that a higher irradiation time provided a better efficiency. Zn2SnO4 presented the best result, with 81 % of discoloration after 4 h of irradiation. As tin was replaced by titanium in the spinel structure, the catalyst efficiency decreased, achieving 37 % for the Zn2TiO4.