Is 3% Eu3+ Doping in ZnO Unique? An investigative case study of Photocatalytic Descriptors Using Multiparameter Approach. .

Abstract

Abstract The hydrothermal approach was used to prepare different proportions of Europium (Eu3+) doped ZnO hybrid material which were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis with end results being Eu3+: ZnO nanocomposites. The XRD pattern obtained verifies the successful incorporation of Europium (Eu3+) into Zinc-Oxide (ZnO) host matrix. SEM analysis predicted that the ZnO was uniformly distributed and agglomeration was observed to be increased with increasing wt.% of Eu3+. The photocatalytic activity was carried out using the antibiotic Rifampicin under visible light and the observed results predicted the highest photocatalytic activity against the antibiotic for Eu3+: ZnO-3 wt.%. Rifampicin had a 90-minute degradation rate of around 90% for Eu3+: ZnO -3 wt.% which demonstrated that doping ZnO with Eu3+ allows a favorable adsorption with enhanced photocatalytic properties. When considering the collective findings of Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), Photocurrent Measurements and UV-visible spectroscopy data, a unanimous inference can be drawn: the peak photocatalytic efficiency of Eu3+ doped ZnO aligns with a 3% wt. concentration of Europium (Eu3+).