The effect of Fe doping on the suppression of photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanopowder for the application in sunscreens

Fe doped ZnO nanoparticles were prepared by oxalate co-precipitation method with different Fe contents in order to reduce the photocatalytic activity without modifying the UV absorption capacity of ZnO for the application of ZnO nanoparticles in sunscreens. The effect of Fe doping on the crystallite structure, morphologies and optical properties ZnO was respectively characterized by XRD, SEM and UV–visible diffuse reflectance. The photocatalytic activities were evaluated via the degradation of methylene blue under both UV and visible light illumination. According to the results, the Fe doping did not change the zincite phase but slightly increased the cell volume and decreased the particle size of ZnO, which proves the Fe doping at Zn2 + sites of ZnO lattice. The photocatalytic tests show the strong reduction of photocatalytic activity with the increase of doped Fe contents whereas the UV absorption of ZnO remained unchained after Fe doping. These results indicates that Fe doped ZnO could be a promising UV absorber in practical sunscreens.