Abstract
The Zn1-xCexO nanoparticles thin films (x=0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07, and 0.1) were deposited on glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique with the view to use in photocatalytic water decontamination applications. The pre-synthesized Ce-doped ZnO targets of various Ce dopant levels were subjected to PLD for the deposition of films. The optical evaluation of the Ce-doped compared to pure ZnO thin films by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), revealed the dependence of the extension of the absorption edge in the visible region with the increasing Ce contents, whereas the shifts in the Raman spectra verified the insertion of Ce in the lattice. The structural and morphological characterization of the fabricated films was carried out by XRD, FESEM, and AFM. The variations in the oxidation states of the components of the films during the deposition were evaluated by XPS. The photocatalytic activity of the Ce-doped films, in comparison to bare ZnO, was evaluated in natural sunlight exposure for the removal of 2-chlorophenol. The as-fabricated Ce-doped films exhibited substantially high degradation/mineralization activity as well as stability against the photocorrosion as compared to pure ZnO. The film with 3% Ce contents showed the highest activity. The salient feature of the study was the low exposed area as compared to the overall size of the reactor. The kinetics of the photocatalytic degradation/mineralization process and the stability of the films in the repeated cycles were also evaluated.