Issue 1, 2018

Synthesis of porous nitrogen doped zinc oxide nanostructures using a novel paper mediated template method and their photocatalytic study for dye degradation under natural sunlight

Abstract

N-Doped zinc oxide (N-ZnO) nanostructures were prepared using a novel paper mediated template combustion method. The precursors were impregnated on filter papers and thermally processed to obtain porous N-ZnO nanostructures. The XRD patterns of the as-synthesized N-ZnO confirm the formation of the wurtzite phase, and the broad diffraction peaks confirm the nanocrystalline nature of the product. The TEM and SEM images show spherical shaped 20–30 nm N-ZnO nanoparticles. The UV-visible absorbance spectra of the product show a red shift in the spectra with increasing doping concentration of nitrogen in ZnO. This red shift was due to incorporation of nitrogen into the ZnO lattice. Photoluminescence spectra indicate a strong emission peak at 391 nm which corresponds to band gap emission. Considering the band gap of the as-synthesized N-ZnO to be well within the visible region, the photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine (RhB) dyes was studied under direct sunlight using the as-synthesized N-ZnO. The N-ZnO prepared with a higher amount of urea (1 : 8) shows the highest photocatalytic activity as compared to the other synthesized N-ZnO samples towards the degradation of MB and RhB, i.e. complete degradation of MB in 30 min and RhB in 45 min. Our novel synthesis approach provides uniformly distributed nanosized spherical particles having higher photocatalytic activity as compared to other reported methods.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis of porous nitrogen doped zinc oxide nanostructures using a novel paper mediated template method and their photocatalytic study for dye degradation under natural sunlight

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
24 Oct 2017
Accepted
03 Nov 2017
First published
06 Nov 2017

Mater. Chem. Front., 2018,2, 163-170

Synthesis of porous nitrogen doped zinc oxide nanostructures using a novel paper mediated template method and their photocatalytic study for dye degradation under natural sunlight

G. Kale, S. Arbuj, U. Kawade, S. Rane, J. Ambekar and B. Kale, Mater. Chem. Front., 2018, 2, 163 DOI: 10.1039/C7QM00490G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements