This study is aimed to investigate the effect of cobalt, as dopant, on the surface morphologies of nanostructured ZnO thin films. Four different cobalt‐doped ZnO morphologies were prepared by low‐temperature hydrothermal solution deposition, on 2 different substrates—clean glass (CG) and direct‐current magnetron‐sputtered (MS) ZnO glass. An inverse relationship between dopant concentration and grain size was obtained in morphologies obtained from the mixture of solution Zn(NO3)2 + HMT + Co(NO)3.6H2O. No specific relationship exists for those obtained from the mixture of solution Zn(NO3)2 + HMT + PEI + Co(NO)3.6H2O. In general, morphologies obtained from a mixture Zn(NO3)2 + HMT + Co(NO)3.6H2O and Zn(NO3)2 + HMT + PEI + Co(NO)3.6H2O, on MS and CG substrate, vary in grain size (both in length and diameter), crystal population, morphology, film thickness, and crystallinity on films grown on both MS and CG substrates. An increased volumetric size is observed with the increased concentration of cobalt. Lowering the pH—even by 1 magnitude—makes the MS template less effective at aligning the growth of ZnO crystals, giving a decreased crystal packing density.

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The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of an anionic precursor [N2 gas and triethyleneamine (TEA) as nitrogen dopant source] to prepare anionic doped ZnO thin films surface morphologies, via a novel route - hydrothermal solution deposition at low temperature. The effect of dopant concentration under both with and without pH control was studied. The less populated doped ZnO crystal nearly had the same band gap as compared to undoped ZnO thin films. The photocatalytic activity of selected doped ZnO thin films were studied for the degrdation of 10 mg L-1 Methylene Blue under UV irradiation of 254nm. Based on the 1st order reaction rate constant results the morphology N2:S2-MS has shown highest degradation followed by N:S1-MS. Overall, the photocatalytic activity order is N2:S2-MS andgt; N:S1-MS andgt; N:S2-CG andgt; N:S1-CG. In general, a significant variation in surface morphologies, crystal size and population, porosity and orientation were observed. This tailored-made variation enabled the doped ZnO thin films to successfully degrade the waste methylene blue effluents.

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of an anionic precursor [N2 gas and triethyleneamine (TEA) as nitrogen dopant source] to prepare anionic doped ZnO thin films surface morphologies, via a novel route - hydrothermal solution deposition at low temperature. The effect of dopant concentration under both with and without pH control was studied. The less populated doped ZnO crystal nearly had the same band gap as compared to undoped ZnO thin films. The photocatalytic activity of selected doped ZnO thin films were studied for the degrdation of 10 mg L-1 Methylene Blue under UV irradiation of 254nm. Based on the 1st order reaction rate constant results the morphology N2:S2-MS has shown highest degradation followed by N:S1-MS. Overall, the photocatalytic activity order is N2:S2-MS andgt; N:S1-MS andgt; N:S2-CG andgt; N:S1-CG. In general, a significant variation in surface morphologies, crystal size and population, porosity and orientation were observed. This tailored-made variation enabled the doped ZnO thin films to successfully degrade the waste methylene blue effluents.