A simple, low temperature co-precipitation method was developed to synthesize ZnO nanomaterials with different morphologies such as nanoflakes, spherical nanoparticles (SNPs), and nanorods. The concentration of the capping agent, Triton X-100, is a key factor in the morphological control of ZnO nanostructures. The formation of different morphologies of ZnO was confirmed by HR-SEM and HR-TEM. XRD data showed the formation of single-phase ZnO with the wurtzite crystal structure. The influence of La contents on the structure, morphology, absorption, emission, and photocatalytic activity of ZnO SNPs was investigated systematically. The influence of the ZnO morphologies on the photocatalytic degradation (PCD) of Bisphenol A (BPA) as a model reaction is evaluated and discussed in terms of surface area, crystal growth habits, particle size, and oxygen defects. The results indicated that the particle size is an important factor for the enhancement of PCD. Furthermore, the effect of different photocatalytic reaction parameters on the resulting PCD efficiency of ZnO SNPs was investigated. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

John Kennedy L

Physics

School of Advanced Sciences

Chennai Campus

Clament Sagaya Selvam N

Judith Vijaya J

Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a private university located in&nbsp;Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, the institution offers 20 undergraduate, 34 postgraduate, four integrated and four research programs. It has campuses in Vellore, Amravati, Bhopal and Chennai.

VIT is one of the top ranked private universities in India according to NIRF, THE and QS Rankings.&nbsp;Govt. of India has recognized&nbsp;VIT, Vellore as an&nbsp;Institution of Eminence. This has allowed VIT to take independent quality initiatives and move up in world ranking.

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VIT University

Journal of Colloid and Interface Science

Co1-xMgxFe2O4 (0≤x≤0.5) spinel nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple microwave combustion method. The characterization of the samples were performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron (SEM) microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, UV–visible and diffuse reflectance (DRS) spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) analysis. The XRD patterns indicate the formation of cubic inverse spinel structure. The calculated average crystallite size using Debye Scherrer's equation is found to be around 46–38 nm. The morphology of spinel nanoparticles was observed from SEM images and the elemental mapping of magnesium doped cobalt ferrite was obtained by using energy dispersive X-ray technique. Optical studies were carried out for the deeper understanding of the conduction band (CB) and valence band (VB) edges of the synthesized nanoparticles. The intrinsic stretching vibrations of Fe3+-O2- in tetrahedral sites leads to the appearance of IR band at around 573 cm−1. The magnetic properties such as remanence magnetization (Mr), coercivity (Hc) and saturation magnetization (Ms) were calculated from the hysteresis curves. The maximum photocatalytic degradation efficiency for Co0.6Mg0.4Fe2O4 is around (99.5%) when compared to that of CoFe2O4 whose efficiency is around (73.0%). The improvement in photocatalytic degradation efficiency is due to the effective separation and prevention of electron-hole pair recombination. The R2 values for the first order rate kinetics are found to be better than R2 values for the second order rate kinetics and this proves that photocatalytic degradation of RhB dye follows first order kinetics. The probable mechanism for the photocatalytic degradation of RhB dye is proposed. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd

Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids

Visible light driven photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B using Mg doped cobalt ferrite spinel nanoparticles synthesized by microwave combustion method

Nanostructured Co1-xZnxFe2O4 (0≤x≤0.5) catalyst synthesized by the microwave combustion method was employed for the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light. Doping of Zn2+ ions in the cobalt ferrite matrices were confirmed by the diffraction peak-shift towards lower angles. The Williamson-Hall method was used to calculate the crystallite size considering the strain components. The conduction band (CB) and valence band (VB) edges of all the samples were calculated using optical studies. Photoluminescence analysis performed at an excitation wavelength of 330 nm disclosed the rate of recombination of electron-hole pairs and the defects present. Photocatalytic degradation of RhB with pure cobalt ferrite system was performed at pH 2.0 by varying the time, initial concentration and addition of hydrogen peroxide to behave like a Fenton like process. However the effective photodegradation of all zinc doped cobalt ferrite were done at optimal RhB concentration of 6 mg/l at identical operational conditions. Among all the samples Co0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4 exhibited an enhanced degradation efficiency of 99.9% at visible light exposure time of 210 min. The degradation pathway followed first order rate rather than the second order rate kinetics. Based on the values of CB and VB edges in the Co0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4 system, possible routes for the degradation of RhB are suggested. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.

Ceramics International

Photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B under visible light using nanostructured zinc doped cobalt ferrite: Kinetics and mechanism

Nano-sized copper doped zinc ferrite powders, Zn1-xCu xFe2O4 (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) were synthesized by microwave combustion method. The structural, morphological and magnetic properties of the products were determined and characterized in detail by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). X-ray analysis showed that all compositions crystallize with a cubic spinel-type structure. The lattice parameter decreased from 8.443 to 8.413 Å with increasing Cu content. The average crystallite size was found in the range of 41.20-45.84 nm. Magnetic measurements revealed that for lower Cu concentration (x ≤ 0.2), the system shows a superparamagnetic behavior whereas for higher concentration (x ≥ 0.2), it becomes ferromagnetic. It has been explained in terms of random distribution of Zn2+ and Fe 3+ ions at tetrahedral [A] and octahedral [B] sites. The saturation magnetization (Ms) varies considerably with Cu content to reach a maximum value for Cu0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 composition, i.e. 58.58 emu/g. The high saturation magnetization of these samples suggests that this method is suitable for preparing high quality nanoparticles for magnetic applications. The broadband visible emission is observed in the entire photoluminescence (PL) spectrum and the estimated energy band gap is about 2.1 eV. The composition with x = 0.5 showed the highest intensity and was explained on the basis of disordered cluster model. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Journal of Molecular Structure

Structural, optical and magnetic properties of Zn1−xCuxFe2O4 nanoparticles prepared by microwave combustion method

ZnO nanomaterials with different morphologies such as nanoflakes, spherical nanoparticles (SNPs), and nanorods have been synthesized via a simple low temperature coprecipitation method. The concentration of the capping agent is a key factor in the morphological control of ZnO nanostructures. Triton X-100 micelles were found to be single molecules at low concentration but spherical and rod-like shaped micellar aggregation at higher concentrations. The formation of different morphologies of ZnO was confirmed by HR-SEM and HR-TEM. XRD data showed the formation of single-phase ZnO with the wurtzite crystal structure. The influence of Zr contents on the structure, morphology, absorption, emission, and photocatalytic activity of ZnO SNPs was investigated systematically. The influence of the ZnO morphologies on the photocatalytic degradation (PCD) of resorcinol as a model reaction is evaluated and discussed in terms of particle size, surface area, crystal growth habits, and oxygen defects. The results indicated that the particle size is an important factor for the PCD, and thus, the 1.5 wt % Zr-doped ZnO SNPs show superior performance toward PCD of resorcinol than other samples due to the small particle size distribution. Furthermore, the effect of different photocatalytic reaction parameters on the resulting PCD efficiency of ZnO SNPs was investigated. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research

Effects of Morphology and Zr Doping on Structural, Optical, and Photocatalytic Properties of ZnO Nanostructures

Applied Surface Science

Influence of Li-doping on structural characteristics and photocatalytic activity of ZnO nano-powder formed in a novel solution pyro-hydrolysis route

Novel sol-gel synthesis of cerium-doped ZnO thin films for photocatalytic activity

Renewable Energy

Effects of rare earth ion modifications on the photoelectrochemical properties of ZnO-based dye-sensitized solar cells

Materials Letters

Morphology-dependent photocatalytic activities of hierarchical microstructures of ZnO

Comparative studies on influence of morphology and La doping on structural, optical, and photocatalytic properties of zinc oxide nanostructures

Journal	Data powered by TypesetJournal of Colloid and Interface Science
Publisher	Data powered by TypesetElsevier BV
ISSN	0021-9797
Open Access	No