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Title: | Photocatalytic Performance of Undoped and Al-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles in the Degradation of Rhodamine B under UV-Visible Light:The Role of Defects and Morphology | Authors: | PIRAS, Alessandra Olla, Chiara REEKMANS, Gunter KELCHTERMANS, An-Sofie DE SLOOVERE, Dries ELEN, Ken Carbonaro, Carlo Fusaro, Luca ADRIAENSENS, Peter HARDY, An Aprile, Carmela VAN BAEL, Marlies |
Issue Date: | 2022 | Publisher: | MDPI | Source: | INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES, 23 (24) (Art N° 15459) | Abstract: | Quasi-spherical undoped ZnO and Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles with different aluminum content, ranging from 0.5 to 5 at% of Al with respect to Zn, were synthesized. These nanoparticles were evaluated as photocatalysts in the photodegradation of the Rhodamine B (RhB) dye aqueous solution under UV-visible light irradiation. The undoped ZnO nanopowder annealed at 400 °C resulted in the highest degradation efficiency of ca. 81% after 4 h under green light irradiation (525 nm), in the presence of 5 mg of catalyst. The samples were characterized using ICP-OES, PXRD, TEM, FT-IR, 27Al-MAS NMR, UV-Vis and steady-state PL. The effect of Al-doping on the phase structure, shape and particle size was also investigated. Additional information arose from the annealed nanomaterials under dynamic N2 at different temperatures (400 and 550 °C). The position of aluminum in the ZnO lattice was identified by means of 27Al-MAS NMR. FT-IR gave further information about the type of tetrahedral sites occupied by aluminum. Photoluminescence showed that the insertion of dopant increases the oxygen vacancies reducing the peroxide-like species responsible for photocatalysis. The annealing temperature helps increase the number of red-emitting centers up to 400 °C, while at 550 °C, the photocatalytic performance drops due to the aggregation tendency. | Keywords: | nanomaterials;ZnO;Al-doped ZnO;Rhodamine B;photocatalysis;green light-irradiation;photoluminescence;solid-state 27Al-NMR | Document URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1942/39168 | ISSN: | 1661-6596 | e-ISSN: | 1422-0067 | DOI: | 10.3390/ijms232415459 | ISI #: | 000901015600001 | Rights: | 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). | Category: | A1 | Type: | Journal Contribution |
Appears in Collections: | Research publications |
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