Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 17582-17594 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | RSC Advances |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 31 |
| Early online date | 15 May 2018 |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 |
Abstract
Rare earth metal doping into semiconductor oxides is considered to be an effective approach to enhance photocatalytic activity due to its ability to retard the electron-hole pair recombination upon excitation. Herein, we report the synthesis of different rare earth metal (La, Nd, Sm and Dy)-doped ZnO nanoparticles using a facile sol-gel route followed by evaluation of their photocatalytic activity by studying the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) under UV-light irradiation. Different standard analytical techniques were employed to investigate the microscopic structure and physiochemical properties of the prepared samples. The formation of the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO was established by XRD and TEM analyses. In addition, the incorporation of rare earth metal into ZnO is confirmed by the shift of XRD planes towards lower theta values. All metal doped ZnO showed improved photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of MB, of which, Nd-doped ZnO showed the best activity with 98% degradation efficiency. In addition, mineralization of the dye was also observed, indicating 68% TOC removal in 180 min with Nd-doped ZnO nanoparticles. The influence of different operational parameters on the photodegradation of MB was also investigated and discussed in detail. Additionally, a possible photocatalytic mechanism for degradation of MB over Nd-doped ZnO nanoparticles has been proposed and involvement of hydroxyl radicals as reactive species is elucidated by radical trapping experiments.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemistry(all)
- General Chemistry
- Chemical Engineering(all)
- General Chemical Engineering
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
In: RSC Advances, Vol. 8, No. 31, 2018, p. 17582-17594.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparative photocatalytic activity of sol-gel derived rare earth metal (La, Nd, Sm and Dy)-doped ZnO photocatalysts for degradation of dyes
AU - Alam, Umair
AU - Khan, Azam
AU - Ali, Danish
AU - Bahnemann, Detlef
AU - Muneer, M.
N1 - Funding information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Ministry of Mines, government of India, New Delhi and Alexander von Humboldt foundation, Germany under research group linkage program. The authors would like to acknowledge the DST and UGC, for research support (DRS II, PURSE& FIST) to the Department of Chemistry, AMU, Aligarh. Umair Alam thanks to CSIR, New Delhi for the Senior Research Fellowship. The authors gratefully acknowledge the nancial support from Ministry of Mines, government of India, New Delhi and Alexander von Humboldt foundation, Germany under research group linkage program. The authors would like to acknowledge the DST and UGC, for research support (DRS II, PURSE& FIST) to the Department of Chemistry, AMU, Aligarh. Umair Alam thanks to CSIR, New Delhi for the Senior Research Fellowship.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Rare earth metal doping into semiconductor oxides is considered to be an effective approach to enhance photocatalytic activity due to its ability to retard the electron-hole pair recombination upon excitation. Herein, we report the synthesis of different rare earth metal (La, Nd, Sm and Dy)-doped ZnO nanoparticles using a facile sol-gel route followed by evaluation of their photocatalytic activity by studying the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) under UV-light irradiation. Different standard analytical techniques were employed to investigate the microscopic structure and physiochemical properties of the prepared samples. The formation of the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO was established by XRD and TEM analyses. In addition, the incorporation of rare earth metal into ZnO is confirmed by the shift of XRD planes towards lower theta values. All metal doped ZnO showed improved photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of MB, of which, Nd-doped ZnO showed the best activity with 98% degradation efficiency. In addition, mineralization of the dye was also observed, indicating 68% TOC removal in 180 min with Nd-doped ZnO nanoparticles. The influence of different operational parameters on the photodegradation of MB was also investigated and discussed in detail. Additionally, a possible photocatalytic mechanism for degradation of MB over Nd-doped ZnO nanoparticles has been proposed and involvement of hydroxyl radicals as reactive species is elucidated by radical trapping experiments.
AB - Rare earth metal doping into semiconductor oxides is considered to be an effective approach to enhance photocatalytic activity due to its ability to retard the electron-hole pair recombination upon excitation. Herein, we report the synthesis of different rare earth metal (La, Nd, Sm and Dy)-doped ZnO nanoparticles using a facile sol-gel route followed by evaluation of their photocatalytic activity by studying the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) under UV-light irradiation. Different standard analytical techniques were employed to investigate the microscopic structure and physiochemical properties of the prepared samples. The formation of the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO was established by XRD and TEM analyses. In addition, the incorporation of rare earth metal into ZnO is confirmed by the shift of XRD planes towards lower theta values. All metal doped ZnO showed improved photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of MB, of which, Nd-doped ZnO showed the best activity with 98% degradation efficiency. In addition, mineralization of the dye was also observed, indicating 68% TOC removal in 180 min with Nd-doped ZnO nanoparticles. The influence of different operational parameters on the photodegradation of MB was also investigated and discussed in detail. Additionally, a possible photocatalytic mechanism for degradation of MB over Nd-doped ZnO nanoparticles has been proposed and involvement of hydroxyl radicals as reactive species is elucidated by radical trapping experiments.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047434121&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1039/c8ra01638k
DO - 10.1039/c8ra01638k
M3 - Article
VL - 8
SP - 17582
EP - 17594
JO - RSC Advances
JF - RSC Advances
SN - 2046-2069
IS - 31
ER -