Significance of Ni doping on structure-morphology-photoluminescence, optical and photocatalytic activity of CBD grown ZnO nanowires for opto-photocatalyst applications

• Published in: Inorganic chemistry communications Vol. 119; p. 108082
• Main Authors: Loyola Poul Raj, I., Jegatha Christy, A., David Prabu, R., Chidhambaram, N., Shkir, Mohd, AlFaify, S., Khan, Aslam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.09.2020
• Subjects: Electron-hole pair; Interstitials; Nanowire; Photocatalytic activity; Rate constant; ZnO; Nanowire; Photocatalytic activity; ZnO; Rate constant; Interstitials; Electron-hole pair
• ISSN: 1387-7003; 1879-0259
• DOI: 10.1016/j.inoche.2020.108082

Figure displayed the FE-SEM image of thin film of Ni@ZnO of nanowires morphology along with photocatalytic decolourization efficiency of 3 wt% Ni@ZnO and also mechanism. Results shows that the prepared ZnO NWs with Ni content unusually enhanced the photocatalytic performance and hence can be used in water treatments. [Display omitted] •A facile and cost-effective chemical route is used to fabricate Ni@ZnO nanowires morphology thin films.•XRD, EDX and FESEM studies revealed monophasic Ni@ZnO films with nanowires like morphology.•PL study revealed that Ni@ZnO nanowires exhibited one major (392 nm) and four minor luminescence centers.•Methylene blue dye degradation was noticed to be 96% for 3 wt% Ni@ZnO film.•Mechanism of dye degradation in neat and Ni@ZnO film has been discussed. In this work, we study bare and Nickel (Ni) doped ZnO nanostructured thin films synthesized by the chemical bath approach. The as-prepared thin films were characterized extensively by XRD, SEM, PL, and UV–visible spectroscopy before and after Ni incorporation. Finally, the photocatalytic action of all catalysts was assessed using methylene blue (MB) dye degradation under the visible light irradiation. X-ray diffraction analysis approves wurtzite hexagonal structure with predominant orientation along (002) plane, and crystallite size was noticed to reduce from 34 to 32 nm by Ni-doping. The SEM images proved the formation of well-defined nanowire structures. Photoluminescence analysis confirmed the band-edge and defect-related emission peaks. The intensity of PL spectra ensured a decreased value after Ni-doping, suggesting delayed electron-hole pair recombination, which influences the decolorization activity. The 3 wt% Ni-doped ZnO thin film possessed the least optical bandgap value of 3.21 eV. It was observed that the Ni (3%) doped ZnO nanowires showed a significantly improved photocatalytic performance (96%) compared to the pure ZnO nanostructure (83%).