New phthalocyanine-TiO2 nanocomposites with photocatalyst properties

Abstract

In this study, phthalocyanine (Pc)-TiO2 photocatalysts were obtained using the hydrothermal method. Respectively, symmetric zinc(II) (1), copper(II) (2), cobalt(II) (3), nickel(II) (4), metal-free (5) and asymmetric zinc(II) (6), copper(II) (7) Pc compounds were used for the synthesis of Pc-TiO2 nanocomposites. The structures of 7 variously prepared nanocomposites were elucidated using FEG-SEM, UV-DRS, FTIR, EDX, BET and XRD analysis methods. Photocatalyst properties of Pc(1-7)-TiO2 nanocomposites were determined in terms of their photocatalytic activities. Based on this, Pc-TiO2 nanocomposites tend to degrade the pollutant, methylene blue (MB), under visible light with photocatalytic activity which can be determined by UV-Vis absorption spectra. According to the results obtained, photocatalytic activities of Pc(1-7)-TiO2 nanocomposites were found to be effective with the rate of 100% decay of MB in 100-130 min. After 3 repeated applications to measure reusability, it was determined that the photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposites was preserved at an average of 87% efficiency.