Morphological evaluation and boosted photocatalytic activity of N-doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared via Co-precipitation method

Sudipta Mondal; Sikder Ashikuzzaman Ayon; Md Saiful Islam; Md Shahjalal Rana; Md Muktadir Billah

Heliyon (Oct 2023)

Morphological evaluation and boosted photocatalytic activity of N-doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared via Co-precipitation method

Sudipta Mondal,
Sikder Ashikuzzaman Ayon,
Md Saiful Islam,
Md Shahjalal Rana,
Md Muktadir Billah

Affiliations

Sudipta Mondal: Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh; School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
Sikder Ashikuzzaman Ayon: Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
Md Saiful Islam: Department of Nanomaterials and Ceramic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Md Shahjalal Rana: Department of Nanomaterials and Ceramic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Md Muktadir Billah: Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Corresponding author.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 9, no. 10
p. e20948

Abstract

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Pristine and nitrogen (N) doped zinc oxide (ZnNxO1-x, x = 0, 0.005, 0.01, and 0.02) nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully synthesized using chemical co-precipitation approach. The formation of pure crystalline wurtzite ZnO phase without any second phase during N-doping was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of N-doped ZnO samples. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis ensured the effective inclusion of nitrogen into ZnO matrix. The morphological analysis revealed the formation of nanorods as a result of N-doping. The optical band gap calculated from UV–vis spectroscopy was observed to decrease up to 1 mol.% N doping followed by a subtle increase. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra revealed that electron-hole recombination was the least for 1 mol.% N doped ZnO NPs. ZnN0.01O0.99 NPs showed superior photocatalytic activity among all samples due to rod-shaped NPs and reduced electron-hole recombination, which was accessed by the photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB).

Published in Heliyon

ISSN: 2405-8440 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Science (General); Social Sciences: Social sciences (General)
Website: https://www.cell.com/heliyon/home

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