Aluminium and cerium co-doped ZnO nanoparticles:Facile and inexpensive synthesis and visible light photocatalytic performances

Facile combustion route synthesized Al and Ce co-doped ZnO nanoparticles photocatalysts were characterized using XRD,SEM,BET,EDS,UV-visible DRS,PL,photocurrent and EIS techniques.XRD and SEM analyses identify that crystallite and particle size is reduced from 13.26 to 11.88 nm with introduction of Al and Ce into ZnO which assists inhibiting the recombination of photo generated charge carriers.UVvisible DRS spectra indicate that optical assimilation of ZnO is significantly increased to visible region(-406 nm)and band gap reduces from 3.18 to 3.06 eV with introduction of Al and Ce co-dopants.Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis under visible light illumination confirms the enhancement in visible light activity of Al and Ce co-doped ZnO nanoparticles as photocatalysts.The enhanced activity of Al and Ce co-doped ZnO photocatalyst can be ascribed to enhanced light assimilation,high surface area and efficient charge transfer process.Our results reveal that by incorporating precise amount of Al(~2%)and Ce(~2%)into ZnO,a highly efficient catalyst can be synthesized that have degraded almost 95%methyl orange(MO)dye in just 45 min.Further,the influence of various operational parameters such as solution pH,catalyst dose,dye concentration,airflow rate and light intensity on photodecomposition of MO was evaluated.Furthe rmore,a possible mechanism for Al and Ce modified ZnO was proposed and designed photocatalysts demonstrates good stability in aqueous medium.

Synthesis of yttrium and cerium doped ZnO nanoparticles as highly inexpensive and stable photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution

Yttrium and cerium co-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by combustion route and characterized using X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET),energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy(UV-vis DRS),photoluminescence(PL)and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)techniques.The introduction of yttrium ions has efficiently increased the relative percentage of Ce^(3+)ions in ZnO.Yttrium and cerium co-doped ZnO shows efficient photo activity for hydrogen evolution(10.61 mmol/((g·h))higher than previously reported optimal value for rare earth codoped ZnO photocatalysts.This remarkably increased hydrogen evolution can be ascribed to the synergy between electronic anchoring effect of Y^(3+)/Y^(2+)and Ce^(4+)/Ce^(3+)redox couples.This report presents new idea for the synthesis of efficient photocatalyst using economical route and ion anchoring effect.The hydrogen evolution was also tested using Na_(2)S and Na_(2)SO_(3)as electron donors under visible light illumination.The synthesized photocatalysts also exhibit high stability.