Effect of codoping of Zn and Ag on the spatial, optical and photocatalytic properties of cadmium oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

The present article outlines the characterization of pure as well as Zn and Ag codoped cadmium oxide (CdO) nanoparticles prepared via co-precipitation method. To characterize prepared samples, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Diffused Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies have been carried out. From XRD spectra, it has been observed that prepared samples are crystalline in nature due to presence of sharp diffraction peaks and their crystallite size lies in the range of 20–31 nm. From DRS technique, optical bandgap has been calculated and found that incorporation of Zn and Ag decrease bandgap of prepared samples from 2.45 eV to 2.23 eV as concentration of dopants are increasing. The examination of FESEM micrographs revealed the typical shape and particle size of prepared samples. The studies of XPS spectra allow identification of elements present and their respective chemical states. To study photocatalytic property of prepared samples, Crystal Violet (CV) dye has been used with sunlight as a source of radiation. It has been observed that degradation increases as we go from pure to codoped CdO and maximum of 98% degradation was obtained after 120 min of exposure to sunlight in case of codoped CdO. The enhanced photocatalytic efficiency in case of codoped CdO suggests that prepared sample can be excellently used for water treatment applications. Scavenger test using Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) has been carried out for hydroxyl radical (•OH) and breakdown of dye molecules suggested that •OH play an important part in degradation.