Effects of Ba doping on structural, morphological, optical, and photocatalytic properties of self-assembled ZnO nanospheres

Abstract

A simple low-temperature co-precipitation method was employed to synthesize pure and Ba-doped self-assembled ZnO nanospheres. The presence of self-assembled nanosphere-like morphology, high crystallinity, uniform size distribution, and more defects were confirmed by X-ray diffraction, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Photocatalytic degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, a potent endocrine-disrupting chemical in aqueous medium was investigated. The effects of Ba doping on the structure, morphology, absorption, emission, and photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanospheres were investigated systematically. Furthermore, the effects of different photocatalytic degradation reaction parameters were investigated. The resulting photocatalytic degradation activity of Ba-doped ZnO nanospheres shows superior efficiency compared to pure ZnO and commercial TiO2 (Degussa P-25). A simple co-precipitation method was developed to synthesize pure and Ba-doped ZnO self-assembled nanospheres. The prepared photocatalyst shows a novel morphology, high crystallinity, uniform size distribution, and more defects. Effect of Ba doping on the structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of ZnO nanospheres were investigated systematically.