“Fe3+ modified zinc oxide nanomaterial as an efficient, multifaceted material for photocatalytic degradation of MB dye and ethanol gas sensor as part of environmental rectification”

Abstract

• Fabrication of undoped ZnO and 5% Fe/ZnO by co-precipitation method. • Efficient removal of MB dyes under UV light irradiation. • Comparative study of prepared catalysts for water purification techniques. • Ethanol gas sensing application of modified ZnO material. • Humidity sensing study for the modified ZnO catalyst. In the present investigation, we report the preparation of 5% Fe 3+ doped zinc oxide (5% Fe/ZnO) nanocatalyst for organic transformations, gas sensing, and organic pollutant elimination applications via the CPT method. A broad range of analytical techniques was applied to attribute the successful modification of the nanocatalyst and to evaluate the structural and morphological properties, surface area, and chemical compositions by the x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high resolution-transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, and energy dispersive spectroscopy techniques. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) as organic pollutant and gas sensing performance to ethanol were studied thoroughly. Due to enhanced gas sensing performance comparatively at low temperature to ethanol, it is known for ideal sensor, which has high selectivity, rapid response-recovery time, and high stability. It also showed the enhanced photocatalytic performance in the degradation of MB dye in the aqueous heterogeneous suspension. The efficiency of the semiconductor photocatalyst is found higher at the small amount of catalyst dose (0.8 g/L) and at the contact time of 100 min and pH 8.0 as operating parameters. Further, the organic transformation mechanism, enhanced gas sensing and, photodegradation mechanism were explained as the synergic effect of the ZnO and Fe doping. The results revealed that 5% Fe/ZnO nanocatalyst is promising approach to aim the goal of achieving a superior heterogeneous catalyst for the elimination of organic pollutant (MB) at optimum conditions and gas sensing performance for the detection of ethanol.