Dynamic photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants employing co-doped ZnS nanoparticles synthesized via solid state reaction method

Abstract

Because of their excellent optical and catalytic capabilities, ZnS with different co-doped proportions of metals has numerous applications. Their practical uses are limited due to their low photon efficiency and significant photo corrosion. Constructing heterojunctions and advanced structures with appropriate transition metal ions doping are active ways of improving semiconductor characteristics. The Pure and different dopant concentrations of Ni and Cd doped ZnS NPs were effectively synthesized via the solid-state reaction method. The influence of Ni and Cd doping concentration on the microstructure, morphology, and optical properties of pure and Ni-doped ZnS nanocrystals was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive Absorption Spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectra, and the Photocatalytic studies. X-ray diffraction studies show that the average crystallite size increased to 3.30 nm from 2.64 nm upon integrating Ni ion, then decreased to 3.01 nm for Ni0.05Cd0.01 dopant level. SEM analysis reveals that a significant number of nanoparticles have a larger surface area and seem to be spherical. The active vibration frequencies of the Zn–S interaction were observed between 600cm–1 and 500cm–1 in the cubic structure of ZnS Metal oxide. The (ZnS1–0.05Ni0.05Cd0.01) sample shows Excellent photocatalytic degradation activity on the organic pollutants of the wastewater sample, about 96.67% for Methylene Blue. The reported findings demonstrate the dynamic degradation of organic dyes for minimal doping concentrations.