Facile precipitation synthesis, structural, morphological, photoluminescence and photocatalytic properties of Ni doped ZrO2 nanoparticles

Abstract

In this study, Pure ZrO2 (600 °C) and Ni (0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.8 M) doped ZrO2 (600 °C) nanoparticles were obtained by facile precipitation method. The obtained products have been characterized by XRD, FTIR, UV-DRS, PL, FESEM-EDX, TEM-SAED pattern and XPS. The tetragonal structure of ZrO2 (600 °C) gradually increases with the increasing Ni doping concentration and then a small NiO diffraction peak was detected at increasing Ni content. The Ni (0.08 M) doped ZrO2 (600 °C) nanoparticles were approximately in spherical morphology was confirmed by FESEM and TEM results. The energy gap value of the pure ZrO2 (600 °C) and Ni doped ZrO2 (600 °C) nanoparticles decreased from 5.12 to 3.2 eV with enhancing nickel concentration. The surface defects and oxygen vacancies were analyzed by PL spectroscopy. This peak intensity gradually decreased with increase in nickel concentration. The photocatalytic activities of the Ni (0.08 M) doped ZrO2 (600 °C) catalysts were studied by the photodegradation of MV and MB aqueous solution under sunlight irradiation. The Ni (0.08 M) doped ZrO2 (600 °C) catalyst exhibited good photocatalytic efficiency and the enhanced photocatalytic mechanism was discussed.