ZnO nanocomposites containing Cd are synthesized with high photodegradation potential for wastewater treatment

Abstract

The zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle on a two - electron oxygen reduction reaction is a particularly promising candidate for in-situ application. Herein, we prepared the Cd doped ZnO nanocomposites through a simple hydrothermal method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis has been carried out to confirm the structure and size of the nanomaterial. The optical absorption and energy gap of the prepared nanoparticles have been identified by UV–vis-NIR studies. Photoluminescence (PL) studies on the synthesized nanomaterials confirm the characteristic existence of blue and green emission bands. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been studied on the ZnO nanoparticles to analyze the -OH and CO-O vibrations. The structural and surface morphology analysis was inferred by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis. Cd doped ZnO nanocomposites are environmentally friendly and can be utilized to quickly remove contaminants from wastewater. The findings from the adsorption equilibrium fit the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) model very well, showing multi-layer adsorption. The photodegradation studies on Cd doped ZnO nanocomposites were carried out, which is an advanced oxidation process widely used for methylene blue removal. Therefore, the higher photocatalytic performance revealed that Cd doped ZnO nanocomposites could be a promising photocatalyst for environmental remediation applications.