Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, Vol 27 No 2 (2023): 304 - 313

SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITIES OF Mg-DOPED ZnO FOR DEGRADATION OF METHYLENE BLUE DYE UNDER UV LIGHT IRRADIATION

(Sintesis, Pencirian dan Aktiviti Fotokatalitik Mg di Dopkan dengan ZnO untuk

Penguraian Pewarna Metilena Biru di Bawah Cahaya UV)

Hartini Ahmad Rafaie^1,3*, Zul Adlan Mohd Hir¹, Nurul Infaza Talalah Ramli¹, and Muhd Firdaus Kasim²

¹Faculty of Applied Sciences,

Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang Branch,

26400 Bandar Tun Abdul Razak Jengka, Pahang, Malaysia

²Center for Nanomaterials Research,

Institute of Science, Universiti Teknologi MARA,

40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

³Centre of Foundation Studies,

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor Branch, Dengkil Campus,

43800 Dengkil, Selangor, Malaysia

^*Corresponding author: hartinirafaie@uitm.edu.my

Received: 27 July 2022; Accepted: 17 January 2023; Published: 19 April 2023

Abstract

Heterogeneous photocatalysis is a viable treatment approach for removing organic dye compounds from textile wastewater, and ZnO-based photocatalysts is an appealing system to investigate. In this work, Mg-doped ZnO had been synthesized using modified sol-gel technique to evaluate the effect of different Mg molar concentrations towards the photocatalytic degradation performance of methylene blue (MB) dye. It had been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDS) analysis. According to XRD analysis, all samples showed a hexagonal wurtzite structure with average crystallite approximate sizes ranging between 74.82–81.64 nm. The SEM-EDS results demonstrated that the particle-like Mg-doped ZnO samples consist of elements Zn, O and Mg. The photocatalytic activity of the pure ZnO and Mg-doped ZnO was investigated through photodegradation of MB under ultraviolet radiation. The results showed that 1 mol% Mg-doped ZnO exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity with a percentage of degradation of 89.54% and photodegradation rate constant, k of 0.0432 min^-1. Extended visible absorption, inhibition of photoexcited electron and hole recombination, and higher absorptivity of MB dye on the surface of Mg-doped ZnO photocatalyst might have contributed to the increased photocatalytic activity.

Keywords: magnesium, methylene blue, photocatalyst, photocatalytic, ZnO

Abstrak

Fotokatalisis heterogen adalah pendekatan rawatan yang terbaik untuk menghilangkan sebatian pewarna organik dari sisa buangan daripada industri tekstil, dan pemangkin berasaskan ZnO adalah sistem yang menarik untuk dikaji. Dalam penyelidikan ini, ZnO yang didopkan dengan Mg telah disintesis menggunakan teknik sol-gel yang diubahsuai untuk menilai kesan kepekatan molar Mg yang berbeza terhadap prestasi penguraian pewarna metilena biru (MB) dan dicirikan dengan difraktogram (XRD), mikroskop elektron (SEM) dan sinar-X penyebaran tenaga (EDS). Dapatan dari analisis XRD, semua sampel menunjukkan struktur wurtzit heksagon dengan ukuran kristal kira-kira dalam julat 74.82-81.64 nm. Hasil SEM-EDS menunjukkan bahawa sampel ZnO yang didopkan dengan Mg terdiri daripada unsur Zn, O dan Mg. Aktiviti foto-penguraian ZnO dan Mg-doped ZnO dikaji dengan menjalankan pemerhatian penguraian larutan akues MB di bawah sinaran ultraviolet. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa sampel 1 mol% ZnO yang didopkan dengan Mg menunjukkan peningkatan kecekapan fotomangkin dengan peratusan penguraian 89.54% dan kadar penguraian tetap, k 0.0432 min^-1. Penyerapan yang lebih meluas di kawasan cahaya nampak, penghambatan pengumpulan semula elektron dan lubang yang terangsang dengan foto, dan foto penguraian larutan akues metilena biru yang lebih tinggi pada permukaan fotokatalis ZnO yang didopkan dengan Mg mungkin menyumbang kepada peningkatan aktiviti fotokatalitik.

Kata kunci: magnesium, metilena biru, pemangkin, fotokatalitik, ZnO

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