Structural, microstructural and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue of zinc oxide and Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared by simple coprecipitation method

Abstract

Nanoparticles of ZnO doped with Fe (0.00, 0.02, 0.05 and 0.10) were prepared by chemical co-precipitation method. The effect of iron doping on the structural, morphological and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles was examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV–Visible spectroscopy. The XRD analysis revealed the single-phase of the as-made and Fe-doped ZnO nanoparticles. SEM images showed the formation of aggregates of small individual nanoparticles of various sizes. FTIR analysis indicated the existence of distinct characteristic absorption peaks at 447 cm−1 for Zn–O stretching mode with some changes in the intensities. UV–Visible measurement revealed a reduction in the energy gap with increasing Fe concentration, which is generally due to increasing mesh parameters. The photocatalytic activity of Zn1-xFexO was evaluated by analyzing the degradation of methylene blue (MB). The presence of iron from 2% to 10 at% in the ZnO nanopowder was found to decelerate the photocatalytic process.