Synthesis and Characterization Of CaMgO2 Nanoparticles Photocatalyst For the Decolorization Of Orange G Dye

Abstract

A series of heterogeneous basic catalysts of CaO, MgO and CaMgO₂ at different calcination temperature were synthesized via solution combustion method. Different characterization techniques have been carried out to investigate the structure of the produced catalysts i.e. X-ray diffraction (XRD), particle size analyzer, morphology by atomic force microscope (AFM) and reflection using UV-VIS diffuse reflectance spectra. The particles size analyzer revealed that the mixed oxide catalysts calcined at different calcination temperature possess smaller nano size particles compared to pure CaO. Moreover, the energy band gap was calculated based on the results of diffuse reflectance spectra. The energy band gap was reduced from 4.1 to 3.6 eV for the CaMgO₂ catalyst calcined at 400 and 600 °C respectively compared to pure oxide catalysts. The higher decolorization efficiency was 100% after 60 min of photocatalytic reaction for CaMgO₂ calcined at 600 °C compared to CaO and MgO with catalytic activity of 58% and 27% respectively.