Photocatalytic activity of Zn-doped $$\hbox {Fe}_{2}\hbox {O}_{3}$$ nanoparticles: a combined experimental and theoretical study

Abstract

Iron oxide (Fe 2 O 3) nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method. The effect of Zn concentration on Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles was investigated by structural and electronic properties. X-ray diffractograms indicate the formation of a hematite Fe 2 O 3 structure. The calculated particle sizes for undoped-Fe 2 O 3 and Zn-doped Fe 2 O 3 are 31 and 15 nm, respectively. The photocatalytic test was performed against methylene blue to find the efficiency of the photocatalytic activity of the prepared nanoparticles. From the results, it is found that compared to undoped-Fe 2 O 3 , the efficiency of Zn-doped Fe 2 O 3 increases considerably. To understand the mechanism behind the photocatalytic activity, a DFT-based calculation was performed to measure the band edge positions of the undoped and Zn-doped Fe 2 O 3 nanostructures and the results are matched well with experimentally observed values.

Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of the antimony–tin oxide nanomaterial and its application as a high-performance asymmetric supercapacitor, photocatalyst, and antibacterial agent

“…The derived correlation coefficients for the linear plots of Eqn (2)and data fitting both support the hypothesis that rhodamine dye is photocatalytically degraded over ATO nanoparticles according to pseudo-first-order kinetics. 38,39 Under ideal circumstances, a pseudo-first-order rate constant of 0.004 min −1 was attained.…”

“…photocatalytically degraded over ATO nanoparticles according to pseudo-rst-order kinetics 38,39. Under ideal circumstances, a pseudo-rst-order rate constant of 0.004 min −1 was attained.Adsorption and photodegradation are both effective ways to remove rhodamine dye, however at lower concentrations; adsorption predominates while photodegradation contributes less (Table3).…”

The effect of iron oxide content on the structural and optical parameters of polyvinyl alcohol/graphene nanocomposite films

“…[ 40,41 ] Moreover, its intermediate energy band gap (2.1 eV [ 24,42 ] ) and magnetic characteristics qualify it as an active candidate in many application as sensors, data‐storage, photo‐catalyst, magnetic recording, bio‐imaging, and others. [ 23,24,40,43 ] To exploit the structural and optical properties, different weights of Fe 2 O 3 NPs filled PVA/G blend were prepared via solution casting technique because of its simplicity and a low‐cost one. The effect of the nano filler's weight ratio percentages (wt%) on the structural and optical properties has been explored using X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and ultraviolet‐visible‐near‐IR (UV‐Vis‐NIR) spectroscopy techniques, respectively.…”

Diversity of Iron Oxides: Mechanisms of Formation, Physical Properties and Applications

“…The most stable (under normal conditions) iron oxide compound, hematite, attracts the highest attention of scientists, according to the overall amount of published papers (Table 4). Similarly to magnetite, the most frequently obtained form of α-Fe 2 O 3 is a chemically synthesized NP, predominantly used for photocatalysis, biogeochemistry and the bioremediation of toxic compounds [105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119]. The second important form of hematite is the natural ore with inclusions of α-Fe 2 O 3 , which is used in Earth sciences [117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124].…”