Photodegradation studies of pure and cobalt doped zinc oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

ABSTRACT Pure and cobalt (Co)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesised by co-precipitation method. Various characterisation studies such as powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and UV-visible spectra were carried out to investigate their structural and optical characteristics. The absorbance spectrum shows the red shift for the Co-doped ZnO nanoparticles and also decrease in their band gap due to increase in dopant concentration. The SEM analysis reveals that the pure ZnO has spherical-shaped morphology and Co-doped samples have hexagonal-shaped nanorods and nanoflowers. Photo catalytic activity of pure and Co-doped Zinc oxide was analysed using Malachite Green and Chrysodine Y dyes under UV irradiation, and it shows good photo catalytic behaviour.