Kt. Ranjit et al., PHOTOCATALYTIC REDUCTION OF NITRITE AND NITRATE IONS OVER OXIDE (ZNO,ZRO2 AND FE2O3) SEMICONDUCTORS, Indian journal of chemistry. Sect. A: Inorganic, physical, theoretical & analytical, 35(3), 1996, pp. 177-181
The photocatalytic reduction of nitrite and nit rate ions to ammonia h
as been studied over ZnO, ZrO2, Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 oxide semiconductors.
Many parameters such as the position of the conduction band edge of th
e semiconductor, the metal-semiconductor junction, light absorption ca
pacity elf the semiconductor, adsorption of the reagent species and pH
of the medium used influence the yield of ammonia and hence one can n
ot a priori predict the relative activity of these systems on the basi
s of band edges alone. The resulting photoactivity is a balance of the
above said factors some of which play contrasting roles.