Revista de Ciências e Engenharia de Materiais

Influence of Undoped and Cu⁺²/Fe⁺³ Codoped ZnO Nanoparticles on Enhanced Photocatalytic Evaluation Using Textile Dye

Abstract

Muhammad Mubeen Tahir and Javed Latif Piracha

Pure and Cu⁺²/Fe⁺³ codoped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by polyol method. X-rays diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, dispersion X-rays spectroscopy; UV-Vis spectroscopy and photoluminescence were used for the characterization of the as synthesized nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction study of as synthesized nanoparticles presented the hexagonal wurtzite phase of ZnO structure. Optical studies revealed a blue shift in the absorption spectrum when ZnO was doped with Cu⁺²/Fe⁺³.

The degradation rate of disperse blue dye using ZnO and codoped ZnO nanoparticles were considered under the solar region. ZnO and codoped ZnO degrade dye under consideration however, codoped ZnO nanoparticles proved to be extra efficient catalyst as compared to ZnO nanoparticles. The kinetic study of the dye was also calculated and it was observed that degradation of the respective dye followed pseudo first-order kinetics. The as-synthesized nanoparticles prove to be environment-friendly and active and can be vastly used for the purification of water polluted by different dyes that are carcinogenic in nature.