The aim of this thesis was the synthesis and characterization of Zn-Cr layered double
hydroxides (LDHs) under different synthesis conditions. LDH materials are of great
interest due to their ease of preparation and wide applicability, especially in the removal
of organic pollutants from aqueous solutions by sorption or photocatalysis. In this work,
Zn-Cr LDHs were synthesized using a coprecipitation method at pH values of 6.0, 7.0,
8.0 and 9.0. Repeated synthesis was carried out at pH 6.0 followed by additional
hydrothermal treatment. All synthesised samples were then thermally treated to obtain
mixed metal oxides. The final products were characterized using X-ray powder
diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis coupled with mass spectrometry (TGMS). The sorption capacities of the samples were evaluated with a solution of
Plasmocorinth B dye, while their photocatalytic properties were investigated on the
thermally treated samples. The most crystalline and most efficient sorbent is the
hydrothermally treated Zn-Cr LDH synthesized at pH 6.0.
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