Photocatalytic activity of ion-doped ZnO powders

Author

Xiaojing Yang ; Xiaobing Liu ; Xiaoliang Wu

Author_Institution

Key Lab. of Fluid & Power Machinery, Xihua Univ., Chengdu, China

Volume

22

Issue

3

fYear

2015

fDate

Jun-15

Firstpage

1497

Lastpage

1500

Abstract

Na, Mg and Al-doped ZnO nano-powders were prepared by the sol-gel method. Acetate of zinc and nitrate salts of Na, Mg and Al were mixed with solution of ethanolamine and 2-methoxyethanol. The xerogel was calcinated at 973 K for 1 h in the air to eliminate organic matter and form powders. The structural, the grain size of doped ZnO and photocatalvtic activity of the powders were investigated. The samples crystal structure were analyzed by XRD and photocatalytic activity were carried out in a UV-visible spectrophotometer. Photocatalytic degradation of the methyl orange solution under the light of wavelength of 254 nm was performed to investigate the photocatalytic activity of doped ZnO powders. The results showed that dopant can greatly improve the photocatalytic activity of ZnO powders. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity of doped ZnO powers is mainly due to their smaller particle size and capability for reducing the electron hole pair recombination.

Keywords

II-VI semiconductors; X-ray diffraction; aerogels; calcination; catalysis; electron-hole recombination; grain size; magnesium compounds; nanofabrication; nanoparticles; particle size; photochemistry; semiconductor doping; semiconductor growth; sodium compounds; sol-gel processing; ultraviolet spectra; visible spectra; wide band gap semiconductors; zinc compounds; 2-methoxyethanol; Al_xZn_1-xO; Mg_xZn_1-xO; Na_xZn_1-xO; UV-visible spectrophotometry; XRD; aluminum-doped zinc oxide nanopowders; calcination; crystal structure; electron-hole pair recombination; ethanolamine solution; grain size; magnesium-doped zinc oxide nanopowders; methyl orange solution; mixtures; nitrate salts; organic matter; particle size; photocatalytic activity; photocatalytic degradation; sodium-doped zinc oxide nanopowders; sol-gel method; structural properties; temperature 973 K; time 1 h; wavelength 254 nm; xerogel; zinc acetate; Degradation; Doping; Grain size; II-VI semiconductor materials; Powders; Zinc oxide; Sol???gel method; ZnO nano-powders; methyl orange; photocatalytic activity;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1070-9878

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TDEI.2015.7116343

Filename

7116343