Sonosynthesis and Characterization of ZrO2@ZnO core-shell nanostructure and its application on photodegradation of wastewater-contained an Azo dye

ZnO@ZrO2 core-shell nanostructure (NS) was synthesized under ultrasonic irradiation by sol-gel method in two steps involving preparation of ZnO as core and the ZrO2 shell layer was covered on ZnO for preparation of ZnO@ZrO2 core-shell The synthesized ZnO@ZrO2 core-shell NS was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Structural characterization by XRD confirmed the formation of monoclinic ZrO2 and high crystalline wurtzite structured ZnO. The particle size of ZnO@ZrO2 core-shell NS is in the range of 30-40 nm respectively. The photo-catalytic activities of the NPs were evaluated by the photo-degradation of a model dye, Congo red (CR). Compared with ZnO@ZrO2 and ZrO2, ZnO NPs, the ZnO@ZrO2 core-shell exhibited the better photo-catalytic activity [1-3].