Large enhancement in UV emission and photocatalytic performance of Al-doped Co3O4Nanostructures under visible light

Abstract

The luminescence and photocatalytic performance of cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanostructures have been widely discussed. However, the study of ultraviolet (UV) luminescence and visible photocatalytic activity of metal (Al) doped Co3O4 has not been considered till date. In this study, we produce a series of cubic Al-doped Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized by chemical route. The photoluminescence spectrum of pure Co3O4 sample shows UV emission as well as visible emission peaks while on the incorporation of Al3+ ion, only intense UV emission peak around 399 nm (3.10 eV) is observed with quenched DLEs in all doped Co3O4 samples. Though, the intensity of UV emission peak is found high as nine fold of the pure sample in all doped samples which have been affected by the density of free excitons induced by the Al doping. Also, photocatalytic degradation of reactive blue-171 (RB-171) dye was studied under visible light using pure and doped Co3O4 samples as a catalyst which possess extraordinarily enhanced visible photocatalytic performance. Therefore, due to considerable enhancement in UV emission and photocatalytic performance, we suggest that Al-doped Co3O4 NPs play a significant role in the applications of strong UV luminescence devices, electrochromic devices as well as photocatalytic utilizations.