Abstract
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•Synthesis of the undoped ZnO and Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles by polyol process.•The photodegradation efficiency was found to be increasing with increasing the atomic concentration of Magnesium.•20 %Mg-doped ZnO nano particles showed better degradation of rhodamine B dye than ZnO NPs as it is.
Undoped and Mg doped ZnO nanostructures were successfully elaborated using polyol process. The final particles produced were characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and by Energy Dispersive X rays spectroscopy (EDX). The optical properties was evaluated using the diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. XPS analysis and the shifting of diffraction peaks to lower angles confirm the doping of the Mg in the ZnO structure. An increase in Mg concentration with an increase in energy band-gap from 3.18 to 3.31 eV. The improvement of Mg doping on the photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanostructures was studied. The results reveal that photocatalytic properties of ZnO nanoparticles was enhanced remarkably by Mg doping.