Synthesis and photocatalytic activity of TiO2/ZnO nanocomposites by anodic oxidation and chemical bath methods

In this thesis study, TiO2/ZnO nanocomposite films were successfully synthesized via a novel and effective two-step route. Firstly, TiO2 nanotube arrays were grown by anodic oxidation. Afterwards, ZnO nanoparticles were decorated by successive chemical bath deposition. The synthezized nanocomposite films were characterized by XRD, FESEM, XPS and -XRF. The results showed that the rice-shaped wurtzite ZnO nanoparticles were homogeneously distributed on the anatase TiO2 nanotube arrays. The photocatalytic avtivity of TiO2/ZnO nanocomposite films were determined by photodegradation of Rhodamine B dye under UV light. The photodegradation results showed that the photocatalytic activity of nanocomposite films was gradually increased in parallel with the number of ZnO deposition cycles. In addition, the photostability and photocatalytic performans under different light sources of nanocomposite films were investigated.