Wrinkle type nanostructured of Al-Ce co-doped ZnO thin films for photocatalytic applications

Abstract

ZnO:Al:Ce thin film photocatalysts were prepared by sol-gel spin coating method for the photocatalytic degradation of Methylene Blue (MB). The effect of Al-Ce co-doping on the structural, surface, optical and photocatalytic properties of ZnO films was analyzed. The crystallite size of the films calculated using the Williamson-Hall method decreased with Al-Ce co-doping. The enhanced photocatalytic activities of ZnO:Al:Ce wrinkle type nanostructured films can be associate with the increased surface area due to the crystallite size reduction by the Al-Ce co-doping. In the morphology analyzes of the films, the wrinkle network structure was observed in the pure ZnO and (6 %) Al-Ce co-doped ZnO films. All ZnO:Al:Ce films exhibited high transparency in the visible light (> 90%). Photoluminescence (PL) spectra depict near band edge (NBE), violet, blue, blue-green and green emission in deposited films. The photocatalytic test shows that the presence of Al-Ce enhances MB degradation efficiency up to 94 %. As a result, it has been observed that the co-existence of Al and Ce has significant effects on both the physical and photocatalytic properties of ZnO films.