Abstract
The present work was aimed to develop pure and varying concentration (1, 2, 3, 5%) of Bi doped ZnO nanomaterials for photocatalytic application through a simple one pot synthesis technique. The structural, morphological, optical and photocatalytic behavior of the prepared samples were characterized using different techniques. The XRD results of the Pristine and Bi doped ZnO nanomaterials confirm that the samples exhibit hexagonal wurtzite structure of the ZnO. The crystallite size of the Bi doped ZnO samples decrease and the 5% Bi-doped ZnO sample exhibits a smaller crystallite size of 12.87 nm. The FT-RAMAN spectra show that the structural organizations of the prepared samples and also the spectra indicate the obtained vibrational modes are due to the motions of Zn2+ ions and O vacancies in the ZnO lattice structure. The FESEM analysis shows the prepared samples exhibits aggregated spherical form for the pristine ZnO and the size of the particles reduced upon increasing Bi concentration. The EDAX analysis confirms the presence of all synthesized compounds without any secondary phase impurities. The optical results suggests higher absorption and lesser bandgap for 5% Bi-doped ZnO sample and the spectrum is red shifted. The photocatalytic performance of the prepared Bi doped ZnO was evaluated in the decolourization reaction of methyl green aqueous solution under black light illumination. Bi doped ZnO samples exhibited high photocatalytic activity than bare ZnO. The loading % was optimized and the best performance was achieved from the sample, which contained 3 wt% of Bi. The rate constants of the decolourization reactions were calculated, and the stability of the best-performed sample was investigated.