Investigation of optical, photocatalytic and physical adsorption of a new nanocomposite synthesized via a simple co-precipitation method

In this experimental work, different morphologies of the CdxZn1-xS/ZnO nanocomposite were synthesized via a simple co-precipitation method. The effect of Zn2+: Cd2+ mole ratio on the product size and morphology was investigated and it was found that the mole ratio has a significant effect on the morphology of the products. To study the crystallinity and purity of the product, X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern was served. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the morphology of the products. The optical properties of the as-synthesized nanocomposites were studied by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectra. Photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite was carried out by decomposition of Acid Black 1 dye, and it was found after 60min, almost all the dye structure was decomposed under UV radiation. Finally, to study the nanocomposite performance in removing heavy metal ions from water, three different solutions containing Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ with 0.01 molar concentration were prepared in the aqueous medium and the absorption of them with the nanocomposite was investigated by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The results showed that the synthesized nanocomposite has a unique performance and it can remove almost 80% of heavy metal ions from the water.