Environmentally Friendly Degradation of Organic Pollutant Using MgZrO 3 Nanocatalysts: Synthesis to Application

Abstract

Magnesium Zirconate (MgZrO 3 , MZ), bimetallic nanomaterials along with pure MgO and ZrO 2 nanoparticles were prepared via the Pechini sol–gel method. The optical, crystalline, and surface morphological properties of the synthesized nanoparticles were systematically investigated. X‐ray Diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed the formation of well‐defined crystalline phases with high purity, and the crystallite sizes of all nanomaterials were calculated by Debye–Scherrer's formula. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) showed the appearance of new vibrational bands in MZ and the characteristic functional groups, confirming the formation of mixed metal oxide. UV‐Visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy was used to provide information about their optical properties, and optical band gap energies were calculated using Tauc plots. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) with EDAX provided the particle size, morphology, and surface characteristics along with the elemental composition. In addition, the negative zeta potential values indicated the stability of the nanoparticles and the high surface area from BET confirm its high adsorption capacity. The catalytic efficiency, as demonstrated by the degradation of rhodamine B(RhB) dye within a short span of time, highlighted the potential of MZ in environmental remediation.