Synthesis and characterization of titania based binary metal oxide nanocomposite as potential environmental photocatalysts

Highlights: → Novel use of CNTs with nano-binary metal oxide to enhance charge separation. → Synthesis route favours green chemistry approach. → Materials will be used in environmental applications such as water purification. → Presents clear and simple synthesis and characterization. - Abstract: The synthesis of a porous CNTs-CoO-TiO2 nanocomposite was successfully achieved using a two step method. Samples were characterized with X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), to determine the crystallinity and phase of titania and cobalt in the composite as well as to estimate the particle size. Laser Raman spectroscopy was employed to confirm the nature of TiO2. Morphological properties such as, particle size and distribution of the particles on CNTs were probed using electron microscopic techniques (such as field emission electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)). Each of these microscopes was coupled to detectors to qualitatively measure the elemental composition of the nanocomposite by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses. Surface area measurements were determined by BET.