Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, Vol 27 No 1 (2023): 174 - 188

FACILE CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF PURE Zn DOPED CeO₂ NANOPARTICLES WITH ENHANCED PHOTOCATALYTIC PERFORMANCE UNDER UV IRRADIATION

(Sintesis Kimia Mudah bagi Nanopartikel CeO₂ Dop Zn Tulen dengan Prestasi

Fotokatalitik yang Dipertingkatkan di bawah Penyinaran UV)

Swathi Chidaraboyina^1,3, Arputharaj Samson Nesaraj¹,^2*, Manasai Arunkumar¹

¹Department of Applied Chemistry,

Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences (Deemed to be University),

Karunya Nagar, Coimbatore – 641 114, Tamil Nadu, India

²Department of Chemistry,

Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education (Deemed to be University), Anand Nagar,

Krishnankoil – 626 126, Tamil Nadu, India

³Department of Chemistry, Keshav Memorial Institute of Technology, 3-5-1026, Narayanaguda,

Hyderabad – 500 029, Telengana, India

*Corresponding author: samson@klu.ac.in

Received: 5 August 2022; Accepted: 10 November 2022; Published: 22 February 2023

Abstract

Rhodamine B (RhB) is an organic dye which is generally used in paint, paper and textile industries as a tracer dye. It is found to be highly toxic to living organisms and is expected of having carcinogenic effect. Therefore, the effluents containing RhB dye should be properly treated before releasing into water bodies, such as, rivers, ponds, etc. In this research work, attempts were made to prepare and use zinc doped ceria (Ce_1-xZn_xO_2-δ; x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) nanoparticles as photocatalysts to remove RhB dye present in water. These nanoparticles were synthesized by simple wet chemical technique using cheap chemicals. The prepared materials were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscope (SEM), ultra violet-visible (UV-Vis) and photo-luminescence (PL) spectroscopy methods. The samples were indexed in face-centered cubic (FCC) crystalline structure. FTIR showed M-O bond in the samples. EDX notified the occurrence of appropriate elements. SEM exhibited smaller and bigger grains in the materials. The λ_max was found to be 349 nm by UV-visible analysis. The band gap energy (E_g) was reported in the range of 1.5-3 eV. The photoluminescence spectra for all suspensions were obtained in the range of 390 to 550nm. Then, the photocatalytic elimination of Rhodamine B (Rh B) with the help of Ce_1-xZn_xO_2-δ nano-photocatalysts under UV light was studied. Among the several trials studied, highest photodegradation efficiency (58.71%) was found at pH=11 after 60 minutes irradiation in UV light at room temperature for Ce_0.60Zn_0.40O_2-δ.

Keywords: Zn doped CeO₂ nanoparticles, Rhodamine B, dye removal, photocatalytic degradation, UV irradiation

Abstrak

Rhodamine B (RhB) ialah pewarna organik yang biasanya digunakan dalam industri cat, kertas dan tekstil sebagai pewarna pengesan. Ia didapati sangat toksik kepada organisma hidup dan dijangka mempunyai kesan karsinogenik. Oleh itu, efluen yang mengandungi pewarna RhB hendaklah dirawat dengan betul sebelum dilepaskan ke dalam badan air, seperti sungai, kolam, dsb. Dalam kerja penyelidikan ini, percubaan telah dibuat untuk menyediakan dan menggunakan ceria terdop zink (Ce_1-xZn_xO_2-δ; x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) nanopartikel sebagai fotomangkin untuk menghilangkan pewarna RhB yang terdapat dalam air. Nanopartikel ini telah disintesis dengan teknik kimia basah mudah menggunakan bahan kimia murah. Bahan-bahan yang disediakan telah dianalisis dengan pembelauan sinar-X (XRD), infra merah transformasi Fourier (FTIR), spektroskopi sinar-X penyebaran tenaga (EDX), mikroskop elektron pengimbasan (SEM), Ultra ungu-cahaya nampak (UV-Vis) dan kaedah spektroskopi foto-pendarcahaya (PL). Sampel telah diindeks dalam struktur hablur kubik berpusat muka (FCC). FTIR menunjukkan ikatan M-O dalam sampel. EDX memberitahu berlakunya elemen yang sesuai. SEM mempamerkan butiran yang lebih kecil dan lebih besar dalam bahan. λ_maks didapati 349 nm oleh analisis UV-cahaya nampak. Tenaga jurang jalur (Eg) dilaporkan dalam julat 1.5-3 eV. Spektrum foto-pendarcahaya untuk semua suspensi diperoleh dalam julat 390 hingga 550nm. Kemudian, penghapusan fotomangkin Rhodamine B (Rh B) dengan bantuan fotomangkin nano Ce_1-xZn_xO_2-δ di bawah cahaya UV telah dikaji. Antara beberapa ujian yang dikaji, kecekapan fotodegradasi tertinggi (58.71%) didapati pada pH=11 selepas 60 minit penyinaran dalam cahaya UV pada suhu bilik untuk Ce_0.60Zn_0.40O_2-δ.

Kata kunci: nanopartikel CeO₂ terdop Zn, Rhodamine B, penyingkiran pewarna, degradasi fotokatalitik, penyinaran UV

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