Comparative synthesis of ZrO2 nanoparticles by green and coprecipitation methods: The effect of template on structure.

It was shown that the structure and particle size of zirconia nanoparticles has been controlled through the homogeneous precipitation process by using templates. Hexamine as the template led to ZrO2 nanoparticles with tetragonal structure, whereas coffee extract favored monoclinic structures. Field Emission Scanning electron microscopy (FeSEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements, Infrared and Raman analysis were used to view how the structure may possibly affect their spectrum characteristic. Using these pure m- and t-ZrO2 phases as catalyst, were studied photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP). Higher degradation efficiency (50%) of the drug was observed at pH5.5 after 15 min using t-ZrO2 phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]